


The Enemy in my Sheets

by fading_star



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, F/M, Football, Forbidden Love, Love, Rivalry, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Secret Relationship, Smut, football au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-06-01 08:01:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 45,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6509653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fading_star/pseuds/fading_star
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity Smoak's father- Damien Darhk, is the coach of The Starling City HIVE football team. One day, she meets Oliver Queen, quarterback of the Starling Arrows, and she finds herself drawn to him. The problem? Oliver Queen is the man that her father hates the most... Will young love survive, hidden in the shadows, or was it destined to go down in flames?<br/>Football AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, lovely people! <3  
> I'm back with my second story! YAYYYYY! ^_^  
> 'Wars of Power' was a huge success for me, and I hope you like this story as much as you liked it.  
> Speaking of 'Wars of Power'... expect an epilogue in the near future. As promised ^_^  
> I've had the idea for this story for so long, but with exams and school stuff, I had zero time to sit down and write. Now that most of my exams are over, I hope I'll have more time.  
> The poster for this story was made by my lovely friend, my bae, my 'honey D', the Fetty to my Wap- Deni! Thank you so so so so much, I absolutely love it! <3 <3 <3  
> Without any further ado...  
> Happy reading to all of you! ^_^

Felicity Smoak thought she had everything she needed in her life. No, she didn’t think, she _knew_ it! She had great friends. She had a perfect job in the IT department of Queen Consolidated. She had enough money to have bought herself a nice little flat in Starling City.

She knew she could have been living in a penthouse in some fancy hotel, had she accepted her parents’ money but she just wasn’t like that. She wanted to be independent and successful on her own, for her own achievements. Not because her father Damien Darhk had enough money to buy half of the city. Which was why, she had decided to use her mother-Donna’s last name.

Damien Darhk was the trainer of The Starling City HIVE. They were a professional football team, set in Starling City, _obviously_. The Ghosts, as they liked to call themselves, competed in the National Football league and had had numerous victories, including winning the Super Bowl three times.

Felicity and her mother Donna had never been too keen on football, although Donna went to every one of their games. Felicity knew that her parents had been in love since the first time they’d met and going to the games was one way for Donna to show her love and support for her husband.

And because they were so in love with each other, they just couldn’t understand that Felicity didn’t need a man in her life. Now, they were once again trying to set her up with Ray Palmer, a player from her father’s team.

‘I’m just saying- you should give him a chance.’ Her father told her over the phone.

She rolled her eyes. She was currently at a bookstore, looking for something new to read and the last thing she wanted to think about was giving Ray Palmer a chance.

‘Dad, I don’t like him.’

‘You haven’t even met him!’

‘Exactly.’

‘Felicity, baby,’ her mother said in the background. _Apparently, they were on speaker_. ‘You’re twenty-two. I met your father when I was nineteen! You’re going to end up all alone if you keep pushing guys away.’

‘Ray is perfect for you! He’s just as smart as you, Felicity.’ Her father said.

‘I highly doubt that!’ she said and chuckled.

‘Okay, you’re right.’ Her father corrected himself. ‘But he’s smarter than most people.’

‘Right, dad. So was Cooper…’ she remarked.

‘Okay, honey, we know setting you up with Cooper was a mistake.’ her mother started. ‘He was an idiot. He got hit with the ball too many times, I guess.’

‘Why do you want me to go through dad’s whole team? Why are you always trying to set me up with one your toys, dad?’

‘Hey! They’re not my toys! I actua-’

‘I would… ppffttttt… Breaking up, up, up on me…. I can’t….pftttt… hear. You. You…. pffffftttt’. She hung up the phone. It was to her advantage that her parents were terrible with technology. That meant it would take them about twenty minutes to figure out there was nothing wrong with their phone and that she’d faked it.

She put her phone in her bag and started looking at the books again. After reading a couple of resumes she decided to buy ‘The book thief’ as Barry, her best friend, had suggested a while ago and went to pay for it.

‘Great choice, dear.’ Said Janice, the old lady that owned the shop.

‘Yeah, I guess. Barry recommended it to me.’ Felicity smiled. She and Barry were loyal customers and they’d become close to Janice and some of the others that worked here.

‘Well, I’ve always known he has a good taste in books… and ladies.’ The older woman said and winked.

‘Janice, we’re just friends.’ Felicity told her. ‘In fact, Barry has a girlfriend.’

‘And what about you? Do you have a boyfriend?’

‘Nope. I’m also not looking for one.’ She said determined.

Felicity couldn’t understand everybody’s obsession with her love life. Why did people think you need a boyfriend or girlfriend to feel happy and content? She wasn’t searching for her other half, simply because _she wasn’t_ a half. She was perfectly complete. Of course, she missed some aspects of being in a relationship but her last one had ended tragically. Cooper Seldon was a douche from her father’s team. They had dated for a year before Cooper ended things saying ‘he needed to concentrate on his career’ and the following week he was dating a Sports Illustrated model. It took Felicity another year to pull herself together and now that she finally had things figured out, she wasn’t going to let anyone control her life and emotions again. When she was ready she would date someone smart, and kind, and a little shy… And most definitely _NOT_ a football player. Never ever, _EVER_.

She paid for her book and went out of the store. She started walking, as she opened it to see its’ inside. She loved the smell of a new book. It was so refreshing, and magical, as if it was promising an adventure, as if it was saying-

‘WATCH OUT!’

She turned around quickly and saw a big black motorbike coming her way. Before she could even think, she threw herself forward, falling on her elbows and knees, as the motorbike flew right behind her. She felt a sharp pain and winced at it. She turned on her back and saw that the bike had stopped and its’ owner was running towards her. He was dressed in jeans, and a black leather jacket.

‘Shit! Are you okay?’ he asked and caused her to look up to see his face.

 _Holy frack!_ His dark blonde hair was messy from the helmet, and his eyes were even bluer than in the pictures. He was too hot! _Hot damn! No_! She shook her head to get rid of those toxic thoughts. Oliver Queen was the last person she should find hot. And not only because he played for The Starling Arrows, her father’s team’s biggest opponents. What was he doing in the Glades, anyway? Didn’t rich people stay only in the main part of the city? Then she remembered that she was rich herself, yet here she was. Oh, well…

‘Can you hear me?’ he asked as he leaned down to help her sit up.

‘Why wouldn’t I hear you?’ she asked arching an eyebrow.

‘Oh, good.’ He grinned. ‘I don’t know. I thought you could have a concussion.’

‘Well… I don’t.’ she said sharply. He looked at her and they stared at each other for a while. She felt some of kind of weird tension and decided to break their eye contact and looked down at her bleeding knees.

‘Hey, those seem pretty bad.’ He said. ‘Do you want me to take you to the hospital?’

‘It’s fine. Just a couple of scratches. A couple of really, really painful scratches. But I don’t think they need stiches. At least not for now. I’ll go back home and I’ll put some ice on my knees… and elbows.’ She was babbling and when she realized it she bit her lower lip and looked at him. He was still grinning.

‘Let me take you home.’ He said.

Oh, no, no, no! That won’t do! She had read a lot about him on different gossip sites and she’d seen some videos of him. Throughout his career, he’s been in a lot of scandals: drugs, alcohol, sex… _Fun stuff_. Oh, and let’s not forget the time he had peed in a cop’s car. He had been pretty quiet in the last couple of months but she knew guys like him. You just can’t get the douchery out of them. He may have been out of trouble for a while but she was certain he was just keeping it low-key. Different women every night after another game. Victory after victory. Score after score.

Felicity may not have been interested in football but she knew the game and she was familiar with different players and their tactics. She couldn’t deny Oliver Queen had talent, but he was an irresponsible and cocky jerk.

‘I think I’ll walk.’ She said giving him a fake smile and a nod.

‘Can you even sit up?’ he chuckled as he got up and offered her his hand.

 _What an idiot!_ She pushed herself up without his help. A pain cut her deep in the knees but she wouldn’t show him that she was hurting, so she just clenched her jaw. He was still grinning at her.

‘Let me take you out sometime.’ He said as he got closer to her.

_What the heck?! Who did that guy think he is?!_

‘Um. How about no?’ she said and turned to walk away.

‘Wait! C’mon!’ he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him gently. ‘I’m a fun guy to be around.’

‘I’m sure you are.’ She rolled her eyes.

‘Give me a chance to prove it to you.’ He smirked, his voice sounding almost begging.

‘You almost ran me over and now you’re asking me out?’ she asked incredulously to which he laughed.

‘As an apology. Yes.’ He answered.

‘So you’re asking me to go out with you out of pity? No, thank you!’

‘Wait, wait, wait! I’m not asking you out of pity. I’m asking you because I find you quite…’ he eyed her from head to toe and she suddenly felt uncomfortable. Then he brought his blue gaze back to her eyes. ‘Intriguing.’

‘Well, I don’t find you intriguing at all. In fact, I can read you like a book.’

‘Really? What kind of a man am I?’ he asked, his voice low and husky.

‘You’re asking me out so that later you can see the color of my panties. You know what I mean by that.’ She said and pulled her hand out of his.

‘Actually, I already saw your _red_ panties.’ He said and grinned teasingly at her. _What the hell?_ She felt a burn in her cheeks. ‘When you fell down your dress kind of lifted up a little bit.’

‘Oh my God! You’re such a jerk! I could’ve been dying and you were looking under my dress?!’

‘What?’ he chuckled and shrugged his shoulders innocently. ‘I’m just a simple man.’

‘I’d say ‘basic’.’ She rudely remarked and walked away.

‘Ouch. That hurt.’ He said as he laughed behind her before shouting. ‘Hey! Don’t I at least get to know your name?’

‘No!’ she yelled back and walked away feeling his gaze on her back.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

‘What are you smiling about?’ Diggle asked as he took his shirt off.

They had just finished practice and were about to go home. Oliver had taken a quick shower and was now putting on his dark blue T-shirt.

‘Oh, no reason.’ Oliver stretched his back and looked up at his friend.

‘Yeah, right!’ Digg laughed. ‘I haven’t seen you smile like that since we won the Super Bowl last year.’

‘You’re wrong.’ Oliver said and chuckled.

‘Okay, fine. I’ll drop it right there.’ Digg said and put his sweaty clothes in his bag.

Oliver didn’t understand. Why had that blonde girl from yesterday said ‘No’? People rarely said ‘No’ to him. Why was he still thinking about her? And why was he smiling? He should stop. She had made it pretty clear that she didn’t want anything to do with him. Did she know who he was? Maybe she had read something about him. He just sighed and looked up at Diggle who was already looking at him questioningly. 

‘I… met this girl.’ Oliver started.

‘I knew it!’ John Diggle exclaimed. ‘So what happened?’

‘I just met her. End of story.’

‘What? Didn’t you… you know.’ Diggle smiled teasingly.

‘Nah, man. She doesn’t like me.’

‘A woman? Not liking Oliver Queen? That’s a first.’ Digg chuckled but when he saw Oliver just standing there not laughing with him, he stopped. ‘Don’t worry, man. She’s probably a lesbian.’

‘I thought about it, too, but I just… I don’t think she is. I think she just doesn’t like _me_ … But if she’s a lesbian, that’s too bad.’

‘Well, don’t worry. You’re going to find yourself another girl.’

‘It’s weird, Digg. I just… I’m not sure I want another one right now.’

‘What?’

‘I know, I know…. But there was just something about her. She was… different.’

‘Different in what way?’ Digg raised his eyebrows.

‘I… Well, she was blonde and she had glasses.’ Oliver saw Diggle lift his eyebrows in disbelief. ‘She had a pretty pink lipstick. She’s really witty. You can tell she’s smart. I almost ran her over with the motorbike, Diggle.’

‘Okaay,’ Diggle said and laughed. ‘You really like this girl.’

‘I think I do, yeah.’

‘Well, then you should find her and change her mind about you.’

‘How? I don’t even know her name.’ Oliver asked.

‘Where did you meet her?’

‘In the Glades. In front of some bookshop.’ Oliver said. All of a sudden, he got an idea. ‘I’m going to go there and I’m going to ask about her. If I’m lucky, they’ll know her.’

‘Well, sounds like a good plan to me.’

Oliver grinned. He had never needed to know somebody the way he needed to know her. She was more than a pretty face to him. He wanted to know more about her. More than just the color of her panties. _One day_ , he sighed. _One day…_  

 

 

The next day, Oliver was riding his bike through the Glades again and when he reached his final destination, he stopped and took off his helmet. Taking a deep breath, he eyed the tiny bookshop, hoping that the blonde spitfire from the other day would be here or at least that somebody knew her. _What was he doing?_ He shook his head and chuckled at himself. He was Oliver Queen and he was used to girls throwing themselves at him, he was used to getting everything he wanted the moment he wanted it. Yet, here he was. In front of a bookshop, in the Glades, chasing after a small blonde girl, who was far, far from his usual type…

He got off the bike and went in. As he walked in, he was stunned- the ‘small bookshop’ was not that small, at all. Inside, it was spacious- on one side, there were a lot of shelves, and a couple of tables, which were occupied by some customers, looking through different books, and on the other side was the bookstore till.

Oliver noticed the old lady behind the desk and went straight up to her.

‘Hi!’ he smiled charmingly to get her attention.

‘Oh,’ the lady widened her eyes when she saw him and smiled at him. ‘Hello. What can I do to help you, young man?’

‘I know this is a bit weird, but’ Oliver chuckled. ‘I’m actually not looking for a book.’

‘Okay.’ The lady furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. ‘What are you possibly looking for in a bookstore then?’

‘I’m looking for a girl.’ He said and the lady laughed.

‘Aren’t we all…’ a man standing in the line behind him asked teasingly.

Oliver let the guy in front of him so that he could pay for his books.

‘I’m looking for one specific girl…’ Oliver started. ‘I met her two days ago in front of this store, so I was hoping… maybe you know her?’

‘Well, dear.’ The woman said. ‘A lot of girls come here. You have to be more specific.’

‘Right, of course.’ Oliver smiled at the lady. ‘She had glasses and blonde hair. She was wearing a white dress with small blue flowers on it.’

The woman’s eyes widened and so did her smile.

‘Well, young man, today is your lucky day.’ She said sounding way too excited. ‘Felicity’s right there.’ She said and pointed somewhere between the shelves.

Oliver turned around and saw her. _Felicity_. What a beautiful name. It suited her so much. She was wearing a pink dress today with a white cardigan over. Her sunshine blonde locks were tied in a perfect ponytail and her lips were just as pink as yesterday. She looked so taken by the book in her hands with her eyebrows burrowed and her mouth formed in a perfect ‘O’. Oliver couldn’t help smiling. Just as he was about to approach her he remembered the old lady behind the desk and turned around to face her.

‘Thank you so much.’ He smiled. ‘Do you have grandchildren?’

‘I do, dear. Three grandsons.’ She smiled back lovingly.

‘Do they like football?’

‘Oh, my. Brendon, the oldest one, is crazy about football. He has jerseys, footballs, cards… He wants to be a professional player one day.’ The woman giggled.

‘Well, if he’s a fan of The Starling Arrows,’ he said and took an empty list and a pen from the desk as he started writing an autograph. ‘Give him this and tell him that Oliver Queen said hi.’

The woman just took the piece of paper and nodded with a broad smile. Oliver started walking towards the pretty blonde and felt himself growing more nervous with each step. After what seemed like an eternity he was finally next to her, but she gave no signs that she’d noticed him. This was it! That was the moment!

‘Felicity, hey.’ He said and smiled as she lifted her head to look at him, and when her eyes finally met his, he saw them widen in shock.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

 _Goodness gracious! What was Oliver Queen doing here?_ He was wearing a dark grey Henley which did nothing, but emphasize his Greek God body and jeans that were illegal in her opinion. His blue eyes were piercing hers in the most amazing way possible and he had a smile that could, as Taylor Swift said, light up the whole town. _God damn him!_ He was really making this hating him thing hard for her.

Her surprise at meeting him again was so big that for a moment she forgot where she was, and that she was holding a book, causing her hands to turn into jelly. Next thing she knew, was the book had slipped from her hands and was now falling. Before she could react, he had put his hand under the book preventing it from hitting the ground. He straightened up and handed her the book.

‘I think this is yours.’ He grinned.

‘Actually, it’s not. At least, not yet. I haven’t paid for it.’ She looked up at him. After a couple of seconds that felt like years she finally spoke. ‘What are you doing here? … And how do you know my name?’

‘The lovely lady at the front desk was kind enough to give me your name. And I’m here because I was looking for you.’

‘Why? Why are you chasing me?’

‘I…’ he started but stopped. He furrowed his eyebrows as if he was looking for an answer. ‘I don’t really know. All I know, is I want to know you.’

‘Oh, and just because you’re Oliver Queen I’m supposed to fall in your feet and tell you everything about myself?’ she asked arching an eyebrow, as she leaned on the shelf behind her.

‘I knew it!’ He said, putting his hand on the shelf next to her head. ‘You know me. You’ve read about me- that’s why you hate me. Look, I’m not like that anymore, I promise.’

‘Okay. I still don’t care.’ She simply stated. Just as she was about to leave, she found herself pressed between the shelf and his hard body. His hands were on both sides on her head his hips were slightly rubbing into her stomach, causing butterflies to appear in it.

‘What… are you doing?’ she asked feeling the fire spreading through her cheeks.

‘Give me a chance… One date… That’s all I ask.’ He leaned in closer and now she could smell his cologne. _God damn it! That bastard! That handsome, intimidating, great-smelling bastard!_ ‘If you have a bad time, I won’t ever bother you again.’

‘Oh my God!’ she exclaimed. ‘Why do you keep pushing this? Don’t you see how much I dislike you?’

‘No,’ he grinned cockily and Felicity wished she could kiss the smile off his face. _God help her! What was he doing to her?_ ‘Not really.’

‘Yeah? What more do I have to do to show you?’

‘Well, for starters, you can stop pulling me closer by getting your hands off my waist.’ He stated.

 _Oh, frack!_ At some unknown to her point, she had placed her hands on his torso and was gripping his shirt tightly. She wanted the Earth to swallow her, feeling so embarrassed. She quickly removed her hands from him, but for some reason she just couldn’t walk away so she stayed pressed into him.

‘Admit it! You want me.’ He said and leaned closer to whisper in her ear. She could feel his smile, as he pressed his lips to the side of her jaw, right next to her ear. She could hear his breathing and oh, boy. _This man would be the death of her!_

Yes, she wanted him. She wanted him badly. Just yesterday she was assuring herself that she didn’t need a man, but here she was, needing Oliver Queen desperately. And she knew he needed her, too… One date couldn’t hurt, could it? They would go out, talk, _maybe do some adult activities_ , and then go on their separate ways. Because she knew that even if they liked each other like crazy, it wouldn’t work for one _VERY_ important reason.

‘You really don’t know who I am, do you?’ she said and hesitantly put her hands on his waist again, as he kept on placing hot kisses on her jaw.

‘No,’ he answered. ‘But you can tell me everything I need to know on our date.’

‘You know Damien Darhk, right?’ she said and shut her eyes tightly.

When she opened them again, Oliver had stopped kissing her, and he pulled his face slightly so that he could look at her. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were pursed. He nodded slowly.

‘Well, he’s… um… I… know him… because… he’s…’ she was scared… She didn’t want to say it because she knew that as soon as she did, this would be over.

She knew that Oliver and her father really, really hated each other with passion. Yes, she’d heard her father insult Oliver on TV and vice versa. Players from both teams often engaged in physical fights at clubs, or verbal ones at conferences. A lot of twitter feuds, and a lot of shade thrown from both ways. Oliver was no exception. He had actually beaten up Cooper once, which at the time was funny to Felicity as they’d just broken up. But now, the whole situation was far from hilarious to her.

And then Oliver’s eyes widened with shock and he immediately pulled away from her. She tried to cover up the disappointment she felt by crossing her arms in front of her.

‘Damien has a daughter. He’s talked about her in different interviews…’ he started talking, as he was putting pieces of the puzzle together. ‘They said she was 20-ish… You have the same eye color as him, same face structure… You’re his daughter, aren’t you?’

‘Wow, you must’ve looked at a lot of his pictures to know his face structure’ she tried joking but apparently it didn’t work. Oliver didn’t smile and she just cleared her throat. ‘Yes, he’s my father.’

‘That’s why you’ve been pushing me away… You know about our… feelings towards each other.’ he said still painfully away from her.

‘Of course, I do. Doesn’t all of Starling know? All of America, too…’ She said and Oliver huffed. ‘Look, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you yesterday. I would’ve spared you the whole stalking-me thing.’

They just stood there for a while, neither knowing what to do. After a long and awkward silence, Felicity just closed her eyes, knowing that the feelings were gone, just as fast as they’d come. She moved to walk away but his voice stopped her.

‘Felicity,’ he said with a voice just slightly higher that a whisper.

‘Yes?’

‘If I wasn’t Oliver Queen, quarterback of the Starling Arrows, and you weren’t Felicity, Oliver Queen’s biggest hater’s daughter… would you say yes?’

Would she? And for the first time in forever, Felicity was speechless. She just looked at his eyes, finding new horizons and galaxies in these blue orbs, and she knew…

‘Yes.’ She simply said and smiled softly.

Another pause between them. Felicity could, honest to God, feel the tension and quietness. She didn’t care that they were in a bookshop with customers walking around, she didn’t care that Janice had probably witnessed everything and that she’d ask questions later. All she cared about was the effect Oliver Queen had on her.

‘Then,’ he finally broke the silence. ‘I hope you’re free tonight, because I’d really like to take you to that new Italian restaurant they opened in the center of the city.’

She didn’t know what to say. All she could do was watch him come close to her again.

‘At 7:30 maybe?’ he added and slipped his hands in his jeans.

‘I…’ she shook her head slightly and chuckled. ‘I’d love to.’

‘Good.’ He said softly and quietly, before leaning down to kiss her cheek. ‘7:30. At Adolfo’s… I would come and pick you up, but I’m sure you don’t want to give me your address just yet.’ He chuckled. ‘Plus, I don’t think your father would enjoy seeing you going out with me.’

‘I don’t live with my parents, so no chance of running into him.’ She grinned at him. ‘But, you’re right, I don’t really want you to know where I live just yet… If you behave tonight, I might change my mind, though.’ She pushed herself on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek as well.

‘You’re such a tease, you know that?’ he said.

‘I’ve been told that before.’ She smiled.

‘See you tonight, Felicity.’ And with those words, Oliver just turned around and walked out of the store, nodding at Janice at the exit.

Felicity met the older woman’s curious eyes, and rolled her own. Yes, Janice had definitely seen what had happened. But she didn’t care.    

Tonight, she had a date with Starling’s favorite bad boy and notorious playboy. Tonight, she had a date with America’s most famous and wanted football player. Tonight, she had a date with the person, who her father hated the most… And hell, she was looking forward to it! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olicity's date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys!   
> I'm so happy you liked the first chapter! Thank you for all your lovely comments and for the kudos!  
> You can see the poster for the story on tumblr. It's made by my friend- Deni <3  
> This isn't beta-d, all mistakes are mine. Sorry if there are too many. :/  
> Anyway...  
> Happy reading! ^_^

‘I am so excited!’ Barry lied on the bed, making Felicity grin. When she made sure his eyes were closed, she took her shirt off. ‘You are finally gonna get laid, Felicity! With Oliver Queen!’

‘He’s just a normal guy, Barry… And I’m not gonna get laid.’

‘Then why are you going out with _that_ dress?’ Barry sat up and raised her eyebrow.

Felicity looked at her reflection in the mirror. The blue dress stopped mid-thigh and the cutouts in the front left little to the imagination. Her boobs looked too big and unnatural, so she furrowed her eyebrows.

‘Where did you get it from by the way?’ Barry asked.

‘It’s from my mom…’ Felicity rolled her eyes. ‘Surprise.’

‘You look hot.’ Barry stated.

‘I’m not sure about it…’ Felicity turned to look at her butt, and discovered that it was slightly sticking out from under the dress. ‘No! That’s not it.’

‘Oh,’ Barry laughed. ‘I’m sure Oliver Queen would love it!’

‘No!’ Felicity started as she slid off the dress. ‘Half of my ass was out!’

‘Exactly.’ Barry smiled cheekily.

‘Nice, Barry.’ Felicity nodded and rolled her eyes.

‘You know, I still can’t believe you said yes.’ Barry shook his head. ‘Your father would kill you.’

‘I know.’ Felicity said as she took out another dress. ‘That’s why he’s not going to find out about it.’

‘How are you going to hide the fact that you’re dating Oliver _freaking_ Queen?’

‘I’m not dating him.’ Felicity said and stood in front of the mirror with the new dress. ‘I’m just gonna go on one date with him, then we’ll both be on our merry way.’

‘Hmm,’ Barry stood up and fixed the green dress that Felicity had put on. ‘You look like a nun. It’s so closed.’

‘It’s perfect then.’ Felicity nodded and smiled.

‘Felicity, no!’ Barry spoke. ‘I’m not gonna let you go out with him wearing that!’

‘But I like it!’

‘But you wear this dress at meetings.’ Barry put his hands on his friend’s shoulders.

‘That’s it.’ Felicity lifted her hands. ‘I’m taking out a shirt and jeans.’

‘No, wait, wait!’ Barry stopped her. ‘How about that red dress I gave you for your last birthday?’

‘Oh, Barry, I don’t know.’ Felicity started.

‘I thought you liked it!’

‘I do but-’

‘You’ve never worn it!’ Barry said and crossed his arms.

‘Yes, I know. I’m just… saving it for a special occasion.’ Felicity smiled at her friend.

‘Well, that date looks like _the perfect_ occasion if you ask me.’   

‘I don’t know,’ Felicity said hesitantly. ‘It’s too much.’

‘No, it’s not!’ Barry said and quickly took the dress out of Felicity’s closet. ‘Just try it on, okay? For me. If you don’t like it, you can save it for another time.’

‘Okay.’ Felicity gave up and carefully put the dress on.

Felicity stood up in front of the mirror to check herself out. The dress was… absolutely stunning. It was slightly longer than the blue one she’d just tried, which was a good thing because it covered her butt, while making it look rounder. The back was normal while the front had a deep V-cut, still covering most of her front, while being sexy and playful.

‘You look perfect.’ Barry smiled and Felicity met his eyes in the mirror.

‘Thank you.’ Felicity smiled back, as Barry hugged her from behind.

‘I think we’ve got a winner, huh?’

Felicity chuckled. ‘I think so, too.’

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Oliver arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes earlier and walked to the table he’d reserved. Felicity was still not there, and for a second he got anxious, wondering whether she’d come. Well, she said she would, but… Still. He sat on the chair and picked out his phone, sending Digg a quick text.

_She’s not here. What do I do?_

_-OQ 7:21 p.m._

_You’re early. Just wait._

_-JD 7:23 p.m._

_What if she doesn’t come? Shit, Diggle. What if she stood me up?_

_-OQ 7:23 p.m._

_She’ll come. Just relax. I can feel your nervousness through the phone._

_-JD 7:24 p.m._

_She’s still not here. Should I leave?_

_-OQ 7:27 p.m._

_Oliver, shut up. I swear to God, I’ll turn my phone off if you send me another message._

_-JD 7:27 p.m._

_Do you think she’ll come?_

_-OQ 7:28 p.m._

_Yes._

_-JD 7:28 p.m._

_When?_

_-OQ 7:28 p.m._

_Now… Bye, Oliver._

_-JD 7:28 p.m._

 

Oliver put his phone to the side and looked at the couple behind him. They were in their mid-forties and were talking lovingly to each other. He couldn’t help but smile at them.

‘Hey.’

Oliver jumped slightly from his seat at the sudden sound and turned to face Felicity.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’ She said.

‘No, no, you didn’t, I just…’ Oliver started talking and then moved his gaze to take all of her in. She looked like a fairytale in red, with her beautiful hair falling in soft curls around her face. Her silver belt and stilettoes were shining brightly and he couldn’t keep the gasp from escaping him. ‘You look amazing.’

‘Thank you.’ She said and he noticed her cheeks were flushed. ‘You don’t look bad yourself.’

He chuckled.

‘So, Felicity, I didn’t know whether you liked wine-’

‘I _love_ wine.’ 

Oliver met her eyes and smiled. ‘I decided to order both red and white wine.’

‘Good.’ She grinned.

‘Let me guess,’ he continued talking. ‘You’re a red wine kind of girl.’

‘Good guess.’ She giggled, as he was pouring some in her glass.

‘Cheers.’ He said as he lifted his glass and clinked it with hers.

She nodded and took a sip from the alcohol. Oliver could swear that this was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen- the way her lips hugged the glass and left a red mark on it. He was trying very hard not to let his mouth fall open, so he coughed and drank some of his wine.

‘What do you do for a living?’ He asked.

‘Well,’ she smiled. ‘I actually work for your parents’ company.’

‘No way!’ Oliver exclaimed.

‘Yes, way.’ She giggled. ‘I work in the IT department.’

‘Felicity…’ Oliver furrowed his eyebrows, when realization struck him. ‘Felicity Smoak? _THE_ Felicity Smoak?’

‘I… well, there’s only one Felicity Smoak working there. Unless, I have a doppelganger, named Felicity Smoak.’ She started babbling. ‘That would actually be super cool. Can you imagine a duel between the two of us? I mean, Felicity versus Felicity.’

‘Why ‘Smoak’?’

‘Well, when I was old enough, I decided to keep my Mom’s name to avoid _unwanted_ recognition.’ She answered.

Oliver chuckled. ‘I’ve heard about you. My parents love you.’

‘They do?’

‘Yeah, they value your work a lot. They’ve mentioned you on a couple of occasions. They’re very pleased with your contribution to the company.’

‘Wow,’ she smiled. ‘Thanks. I’m happy to be working for them, too.’

The waiter came and took their orders. Oliver had asked Felicity about why she chose to study Computer Sciences in MIT. As she was talking, Oliver spaced out for a second, just looking at her talk and gesticulate animatedly. She was smiling and her dimples were poking her cheeks and her eyes were sparkling and Oliver got lost for a second. He shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts, because he actually wanted to hear what she was saying. She explained how she always had a thing for computers, and shared some funny memories from college.

‘Wow,’ Oliver laughed. ‘You could’ve gone to jail for creating that virus.’

‘Well, thank God, I stopped on time.’ She said.

‘You’re a smart girl, Felicity.’ Oliver commented. ‘I gotta ask, didn’t you date Cooper Seldon a couple of years ago?’

‘I…’ she chuckled. ‘I did.’

‘How on Earth did you agree to go on a date with that idiot?’ Oliver smiled.

‘Well,’ she started. ‘In the beginning, he was really nice and… I don’t know, I liked him.’

‘Hope you don’t hate me for beating the shit out of him two years ago then.’ Oliver grinned.

‘No,’ she giggled. ‘I actually found that very funny. We had just broken up and he started dating some model named Nina something.’

‘Well, if it makes you feel better, I know Nina and I know for fact that she sucks at sex and I’m sure Cooper regretted breaking up with you.’ Oliver shared.

‘You’ve been with Nina, too?’ Felicity raised her eyebrow in annoyance.

‘Well,’ Oliver winced. ‘I might have?’

‘Oh, God…’ Felicity sighed and shook her head.

‘It was a one-time thing, I swear!’ Oliver lowered across the table to look at her even better.

‘Of course it was a one-time thing. You’re Oliver Queen- you don’t do relationships.’ She lowered her face as well and now they were a couple of inches away from each other.

‘Really depends on the girl.’

They were staring into each other’s eyes, both breathing heavily. Oliver’s gaze fell to her lips, as her tongue came out and licked her lower one. _Fuck_! Oliver wanted to lean in even closer and to place a kiss on her big and red lips, but a cough made them break apart.

The waiter apologized and placed their food on the table, before leaving. Oliver closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he met Felicity’s and they grinned at each other. They were both obviously aware of their attraction towards each other, and Oliver smiled at the thought that the night might end in a very pleasant way.

‘Why are you smiling?’ she asked suspiciously with a huge grin on her face.

‘I was just thinking how much I like your eyes.’ He answered and winked at her.

‘Thank you. I got them from Dad.’ She said and immediately pursed her lips.

Oliver looked at her and tensed because he had totally forgotten about Damien. When he asked her out earlier, he had promised to himself he’d let it slide and ignore it for as long as he could. He really didn’t want to be put off by the fact that he’s Felicity daughter, and he sure as hell didn’t want to make a nasty comment about him in front of her, because he was her Dad after all.

An awkward silence filled the air, before she finally spoke.

‘I love this song.’

He focused on her again and started listening. It was an old sounding song, with a catchy beat and he couldn’t not smile.

‘It’s catchy.’ He commented.

‘Yeah.’

‘What’s it called?’

‘I say a little prayer for you.’ She answered and started singing quietly with the artist. ‘ _Together, forever, that’s how it must be. To live without you would only mean heartbreak for me._ ’

‘Well, Felicity,’ Oliver smirked. ‘You must’ve suffered a lot of heartbreak in those years when you lived without me.’

‘Oh, shut up.’ She giggled, causing Oliver to smile brighter himself.

The rest of the dinner went smoothly without any slip-ups. Well, Felicity made a lot of sexual innuendos, but they were funny and Oliver enjoyed them. She’d asked him to shut her up a couple of times, but Oliver just smiled. _Oh, he’d make her shut up. And then he’d make her scream._ He was just waiting to get her alone.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Despite what the press said, Oliver Queen turned out to be a real gentleman. He insisted on paying the bill since he had basically made her go out with him against her will. _His words, not hers._ When they left, he opened her door for her and waited for her to walk out first. Honestly, she knew that he was probably ogling her ass, but for some reason it didn’t make her feel angry or shy. Quite the opposite, actually. It made her feel sexy and powerful. Then since neither of them had taken their cars, they decided to walk.

They were talking all the way, and he was funny, and charming, and seriously, he shouldn’t be allowed to smile. As he was telling her a story about his sister and him, she was looking at him, and she couldn’t help but sigh. Because, _damn, when God was making him he sure as hell didn’t spare him the sexy. And why did he have to have those dimples! He should be illegal!_ Oliver turned to look at her and furrowed his eyebrows, before laughing.

‘Well, Felicity,’ he said. ‘If I was illegal, I would be in jail. That means I won’t get to see you.’

‘Oh my God…’ she buried her face in her hands. ‘I can’t believe I said that out loud.’

‘Don’t worry, I like it.’ He smiled.

‘Wine’s probably getting to me. Speaking of… I really need to pee.’ She said all of a sudden. Her eyes widened and met his amused ones. ‘Aaand, you really didn’t need to hear that.’

‘Well, my apartment is two blocks away. You’ll do your work, and then I’ll walk you home.’ He offered.

‘Oh, thanks.’ She smiled. ‘But you don’t have to. I can call a cab or…’

‘I know I don’t have to. I just want to.’ He looked into her eyes. ‘I want to know you’re safe.’

‘I live half an hour away by car.’

‘Look, I’ll call a cab, but I’m coming to make sure, the driver doesn’t kidnap you.’

She chuckled and together they headed to his apartment.

 

‘Oh, wow!’ she exclaimed when they walked into the Penthouse.

She really didn’t know why she was surprised. Of course, he lived in a luxurious apartment with all kinds of new technology that she was sure he barely knew how to use. The whole place was neat and clean, and she could bet that he had a cleaning lady. But the view… The view was spectacular.

‘Wow!’ she said again, as she was staring through the window.

‘You like it?’ he leaned on the glass _right next to her_.

‘I love it!’ she grinned. ‘You can see the whole city from here!’

When he stood quiet beside her and didn’t say anything she turned to look at him and her breath caught. He was looking at her with the most intense look in his eyes. His gaze was fixated on her, not moving, not blinking. He had a small half-smile on his face and if Felicity didn’t find him absolutely gorgeous, she’d probably think this was creepy.

‘I’m sorry.’ He chuckled. ‘I didn’t mean to creep you.’

‘Damn me and my mouth.’ She pressed her forehead to the glass from embarrassment.

‘No, you’re totally right. But don’t worry, I’m not planning your death or anything.’ He answered.

‘Oh, where’s the bathroom?’ for a moment she had forgotten why she was here in the first place.

He showed her the way, and left her to give her privacy.

When she was done, she washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror. She was really happy with how she looked and was even happier that the whole look was still not ruined. For a second, she wondered what was going to happen when he walked her home later. Would he kiss her? Would he call her again or was this a one-time thing? Did he even enjoy it? He seemed like he was having fun, but… well, maybe she just wished he had, because she genuinely liked him. And then she got angry at herself for falling for him, because _HELLO_! He was Oliver Queen!! Her father hated him!

Oh, the irony. Her father had been doing everything in his power to set her up with somebody, and the only one she wanted was a guy he hated with passion. If she hadn’t been so into Oliver already, she’d probably laugh. But she was into Oliver. Like really, _really_ into him. She was so screwed.

Felicity walked out of the bathroom and found Oliver standing shirtless. _The Lord was testing her!_

‘Oh,’ he turned to face her. ‘I didn’t see you there.’ When she didn’t say a word he continued. ‘I was just… I just wanted to change into something more comfortable. I was getting too hot with that shirt and…’

Felicity was listening to him, while shamelessly staring at his body. Who could blame her though? The guy was like a Greek god with his perfect abs, and shoulders, and… man-boobs.

She just wanted to have a nice night out with a handsome man, and she was feeling so attacked right now. Attacked by his sexiness! She had promised herself, she wouldn’t be one of the many fans of his. She had promised she wouldn’t fall for him or anyone like him, actually. Damn that handsome bastard!

When she finally looked up, the amusement from his face was gone and was replaced by something else. He was once again looking at her with those intense eyes of his, his mouth hanging just slightly. He was taking very slow breaths, as if he was trying not to scare her. For a second, Felicity felt as if she was a pray and he was a predator, waiting to make his move on her.

Everything happened too fast from then.

She didn’t know who moved first, but couldn’t care less about it now. All she could think about right now was how amazingly he kissed her and how she wanted to touch every part of him.

His lips were bold, and demanding, and needy, and leaving her breathless. He didn’t ask for permission, he just slipped his tongue in her mouth and she couldn’t help the moan that escaped her. She heard him, _honest to God_ , growl, before lifting her up in his arms by the ass. He squeezed it, at the same time he bit her lower lip.

She was trying to keep up with him, by scratching his bare shoulders and back, and occasionally, she messed up his hair with her fingers and bit him, too.

He started walking, and for a second she got scared that he’d hit her somewhere, or he’d drop her, but luckily for her none of that happened. She was glad that he knew his house so well, and she was actually very impressed by the fact that he made it to the second floor, while holding her in his arms and kissing her.

She really needed to catch her breath, she hadn’t had _such a_ feverish make out session since… _never?_ She wanted to pull away, but he seemed so _insatiable_. He was kissing her restlessly, and it honestly turned her on so much, that she could probably climax just by kissing him. As much as she needed air, she needed him more.

Luckily for her, he pulled back and lied her on the bed. He quickly undid his pants, leaving only his boxers on and oh. OH! He was really… _ready_. He lied on top on her, and kissed her again, while sliding her zipper down.

‘Fuck,’ he cursed against her lips. ‘It’s stuck.’

‘Oh, oh!’ she panted. ‘Be careful with the dress! It’s a gift.’

She pushed him aside and stood up. Finally, she managed to pull it down and the second the dress fell on the floor, Oliver pulled her on top on him and kissed her passionately again. Felicity could hear the Hallelujah choir singing in her head, when he rubbed himself into her like that. He was so… _ugh_. Soon, she was once again under him as he was grinding on top of her.

His hands slipped under her and found her bra clasp. He undid it and slowly slid it off her, taking her in. When he lowered himself again, he placed a small kiss to her lips, and then her chin, and continued going lower and lower. With his tongue he caught one of her nipples and sucked slightly, making her shiver. Felicity closed her eyes and bit her lip at the sensation. She tangled her fingers in his hair pulling him even closer to her. He was kissing and massaging her breasts, and was rubbing into her heat, and she felt like she was in heaven.

‘Felicity,’ he whispered against her skin.

He moved up and captured her lips with his. ‘You’ll be in heaven, when we’re done. I promise.’

He didn’t give her a chance to respond because his mouth found hers again in a bruising kiss.

‘Oliver,’ she panted. ‘Please…’

He didn’t wait for her to ask him again.

He pulled her panties down and stood up. She was completely naked, the only light in the room coming from his window. Felicity bit her lip, feeling slightly embarrassed, because she hated when people looked at her body. It made her insecure, and it made her want to put her clothes back on.

Before she could do it for real, he slid his boxers down and found his way between her legs.

‘You’re… big.’ She dumbly remarked, making him chuckle.

‘And you’re gorgeous.’ He kissed her lips gently.

He could kiss softly, and he could kiss passionately. _Damn him! He was absolutely perfect._

She felt him move above her, and saw him reaching for his drawer. He pulled out a condom and quickly ripped the package. He rolled it onto his length and kissed her again.

‘Ready?’ he asked with a sly smirk.

‘Aha.’ She nodded and pulled him in for a kiss.

The next thing she could feel, was him slowly pushing into her. She gasped and he stopped.

‘You good?’ he asked.

She could actually sense that he was genuinely worried from his tone, and that made her smile. She nodded and kissed his lips again. He pushed further into her and when he filled her completely, he stilled, giving her time to adjust. He placed a couple of soft kisses all over her face and slowly pulled out, before thrusting into her again. She breathed out heavily and grabbed his shoulders, holding onto them tightly.  

They were kissing each other, while he was keeping a steady pace of his movements. When they weren’t kissing their panting was filling the air in the room. Oliver’s head dropped to her neck, and his lips started placing hot open-mouthed kisses all over her skin. Felicity felt her hips jerking against his, meaning she was close. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist, while the other found her hand and tangled their fingers above her head.

It was so good… So, so good…

Their moans were the only sound that she could hear, his body rocking on top of hers was the only thing she could feel, and his mouth was the only thing she tasted.

Soon, he started pounding harder. The bed started to shake beneath her, but she really didn’t care about that. And then one of his hands, slipped between them and started rubbing her clit, doubling her pleasure.

‘Oh God, Oliver!’ she cried and arched her back. ‘Oh, my… Please…’

Her nails dug into his shoulders and he gasped, and that face he made… _Holy shit! He was so hot…_

His hips were moving fast along with hers, and when he pressed his thumb to her clit, she came with a shout. Her mouth fell open and she sunk into the bed, as he kept on pounding into her. Soon enough, he joined her, groaning against her neck and fell on top of her, coating her completely. They both struggled to catch their breaths for a couple of minutes.

‘Felicity… I…’ he whispered into her collarbone, before rolling off her.

‘Same, dude.’ She shook her head and stared at the ceiling.

‘Did you just call me ‘dude’?’ he asked and chuckled, making her laugh as well.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Oliver woke up in the morning with Felicity’s body pressed to his. One of her legs was over both of his and his face was buried in her chest. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and his were around her waist.

Oliver smiled and placed a small kiss to the place between her breasts and snuggled closer to her.

He hasn’t spent the night like that with a woman in a really, really long time. That was just him. He never liked morning-afters, but for some reason waking up like this, in her arms, brought him nothing but pure joy. Soon, he felt her moving, and when he lifted his head to look at her, her blue orbs met his and widened.

‘Oliver!’ she exclaimed. ‘Hi.’

‘Hey.’ He smiled lazily.

He moved up and went in for a kiss, but to his chagrin, she turned her head, so he ended up kissing her cheek. He tried to cover his disappointment by giving her a tight smile. She returned it with a nod herself, and quickly got up and reached for her underwear. When she was done with her bra and panties, Oliver sat up.

‘Where are you doing?’ he asked.

‘I…’ she bit her lip as she lifted her dress off the floor. ‘Well, I have… stuff to do at home. I have to… meet up with a client and…’

‘At what time?’ he asked, before putting on his boxer briefs.

‘2 p.m.’

‘But…’ he looked at the time on his phone. ‘It’s only 9 a.m.’

‘Yeah, but-’

‘Why don’t you stay a while?’ he offered, trying not to sound desperate.

‘Oliver, I…’ she stood in front of him, while he was sitting at the edge of the bed. ‘I don’t want to bother you or anything-’

‘You’re not bothering me.’ He answered simply.

‘I can’t stay, Oliver. I’m sorry.’ she stilled, not knowing what to say.  

‘Would you…’ he asked after a couple of seconds of awkward silence. ‘Do you want to grab a coffee later? Or maybe tomorrow?’

‘Oliver, I… I don’t know.’

Oliver could see she was trying to get away and he was trying not to show how much he didn’t want her to leave.

‘Was this a one-time thing to you?’ he asked, surprised, because it was usually him who did the one-night-stand thing. Now he was on the other side- the beggar’s side.  

‘I… I don’t see why we should continue.’

 _Really? Was she serious?_ She seemed to enjoy last night, as much as he had. She had talked and smiled, and she really didn’t seem like that type of girl that slept around. In fact, he could see it now. He could see how uncertain she was of her own words and how she tried to cover it. And suddenly, it hit him.

‘It’s because of your father, isn’t it?’

He looked up to meet her eyes. At first they went wide and she looked like she was about to argue, but then they closed and she exhaled deeply.

‘I like you, Oliver.’ She finally said. ‘I really do, but-’

‘Then no ‘buts’, because I like you too.’ He stood up and took her hands in his.

‘Oliver, how can you date a girl, whose father you hate?’ she asked and squeezed his hands.

 ‘Because,’ he started. ‘I won’t be dating your father, you know? I want to be with you for you. I’m not gonna lie, I really can’t stand your father, but as long as we don’t think about him and we’ll be okay.’

‘He’s my father, Oliver.’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t not think about him.’

Oliver stood silent, just looking at her.

‘Is that what you want, Felicity?’ he asked. ‘Do you want to leave? Because if you want that, I’ll let you go. I won’t go after you. But _ONLY_ if I know you want to leave because you don’t like me. Not because you’re scared of your father.’

‘I’m not scared of my father!’ she furrowed her brows. ‘And I do like you, very much but-’

Oliver didn’t let her finish her sentence, because his lips were now on hers. He was kissing her softly, unlike their first kiss last night. He was moving his lips slowly and gently against hers. What was important was the fact that she returned it. She was kissing him back, slightly hesitantly, _but still_ …

When they pulled away he met her eyes again, seeing the worry in them.

‘Let’s give us a chance, Felicity.’ He brushed her hair with his fingers. ‘We’ll keep things low-key and we’ll tell people slowly, when we feel comfortable.’

She stared at him for a while. ‘And what are we gonna do about my dad?’

‘We’ll… figure it out when it comes to it. Together.’

‘Will you try to…I don’t know, like him?’ she asked with a worried expression. ‘Or at least, not talk shit when you’re asked about him?’

‘Well,’ he winced and looked behind her. ‘I mean, I could try? For you. I won’t talk about him, but the first part about liking him… I…’

‘I get it.’ She nodded. ‘Baby steps?’

‘Baby steps.’ He nodded as well.

He saw her smile slightly, making him smile as well.

‘But now… I’m going to make you breakfast.’ he took her hand and led her down the stairs. ‘I make the best pancakes in the world, you gotta know that about me.’

‘Oh, really?’ she said as she sat on the counter. ‘You gotta prove it, you know?’

Oliver spread her legs and pressed his body to hers. ‘Oh, I will. But first…’

He saw her grin and lowered his head so that he could kiss her again.

And the pancakes they were supposed to have for breakfast… They ate them for lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was that too fast? Maybe a little. :D But these two can't keep their hands to themselves (I mean, they could, but why would they want to?! *wink*) Next chapter- Felicity meets the Queens. ;)   
> Hope you liked it! <3 If you did, please leave me a kudo and a comment, saying what you thought!   
> Also, you can find me on tumblr and twitter, and we can talk about the story, or the show.. I'm down for whatever :D  
> See you next week! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys!   
> I'm back with a new chapter! This story isn't beta-d, sorry if there are any mistakes!  
> Happy reading!

Felicity was lying on her couch reading some tech magazine, when her phone buzzed. She reached to the table to take it and when she saw Oliver’s name, she smiled.

 

_Too tired to drive to my place. Coming to yours._

_~OQ 9:45 p.m._

_Waiting. ;)_

_~FS 9:46 p.m._

 

Felicity put her phone and the magazine on the table, and headed to her room.

Two months had passed since their first date and they were still only going stronger. Oliver turned out to be so much different from what the media portrayed him as. While he was believed to be a cocky and immature jock, that slept around, in reality Oliver Queen was very… domestic and fun. To her surprise, he was more than faithful, _or that’s what she thought. She hoped._ He always complimented her, and sent her texts when he was at a practice. He actually listened to her and laughed at her stories. He loved spending Sundays in her apartment, playing video games, watching something on the TV or just talking.

To her surprise, she learned that he enjoyed trashy shows. He secretly enjoyed watching the Kardashian clan’s fights and he loved all the drama on Real Housewives. She hated those shows, because to her they only showed how shallow and stupid women can be, but soon she found herself laughing at the episodes, while lying on top of Oliver in her couch.

A couple of times he sent her flowers at her workplace, causing some of her female coworkers to interrogate her. They weren’t her friends, but when she got flowers for 4 days straight, they were all over her and she was suddenly interesting to them. They were asking who they were from or whether she was seeing someone. Felicity always wanted to roll her eyes and throw something in their direction, but she usually answered with a shy smile or a polite answer. She told them they were from a secret admirer, but when they wouldn’t stop questioning, she finally asked Oliver to stop, because her coworkers were starting to really get on her nerve. He had just laughed, and kissed her. From that moment on, the flowers started arriving at her apartment.

Sometimes, they went out- very late at night, when there weren’t a lot of people and they’d wear silly wigs so that people wouldn’t recognize him. She was wearing a red one, while his was basically the same color as his natural one, only longer. He always put a beanie on top of it, because he felt like less of an idiot like that. According to her, he looked even funnier and more ridiculous, but she decided not to tell that to him. They had walks in the park, or in the Glades, and very rarely, they went to a cinema or a fast-food restaurant in the city.

And their sex life… _God_. Felicity was sure that they’d had sex on every possible surface in their apartments. He was very giving and she could not be happier about that.

That’s why, when she reached her room, she opened one of her drawers and took out her new Victoria’s Secret lingerie set. She had bought it last week and was saving it for a special occasion, but she just couldn’t wait to put it on and see the look on his face.

She took a quick shower and when she dried herself up, she put on the underwear. She stood up in front of her mirror and smirked at her reflection. The red push-up bra had black lace and it did wonders to her breasts. The matching panties had a garter belt attached to them and she clamped her black stockings to it. She put on a little mascara and painted her lips in the same scarlet color as her lingerie.

Felicity sprayed some perfume on her skin, and found her black silk robe. She put it on her, and walked back to the living room.

About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang and she quickly jumped up. When she opened the door, she met Oliver’s half shut eyes and tired smile.

‘Hey!’ she exclaimed and opened wider, inviting him in.

‘Hey.’ He walked in. ‘I missed you.’

‘Me too.’

When he took his jacket off, he finally turned around and gave her a sweet and lazy kiss. For a second, she wanted to pull away and smack his head, because _HELLO_! She had red lips and a silk robe on and matching underwear underneath, and he didn’t even pay attention to it.

‘How was practice?’ she asked instead.

‘Hard.’ He breathed out and poured himself some water. ‘I’m _fucking_ exhausted.’

‘Slade going tough again?’ she moved closer, making sure she walked slowly, giving him time to look at her.

‘Oh, he was a sweetheart today.’ Oliver shook his head. ‘He insulted us only half of the day, and slapped me just twice. It was a happy day for him.’

Felicity smiled at that, and then furrowed her eyebrows, because Oliver was still oblivious.

‘So,’ she put her hands around his waist from behind and kissed the place between his shoulder blades through the T-shirt. ‘What are we going to do now that you’re here?’

‘I was thinking we could… sleep.’

Felicity rolled her eyes and made a grimace behind his back. _God, she wanted to kill him._

‘I think I know the perfect thing to wake you up, Mister.’ She teased and moved her hands lower to his front, before raising on her toes to whisper in his ear. ‘And it’s not coffee.’

‘Babe,’ Oliver sighed. ‘I’m really, really tired. Tomorrow morning maybe, before I leave for practice we could, but now-’

‘It’s fine.’ She said and pulled away. ‘I will just-’

‘Felicity, hey’ he said with that soft tone of his that made her knees go weak. _Damn him!_ ‘Fe-li-ci-ty.’

She stopped and turned around to look at him. She expected him to be looking at her with puppy eyes, and to plead with her to not be mad at him. She thought he would walk up to her and kiss her, with the promise of mind-blowing sex in the morning.

So imagine her surprise, when she saw his eyes roaming wildly over her body, going up and down. Then they stopped when they met hers and Felicity saw the intensity in his gaze. The one that made her stomach turn, the one that spread fire throughout her body, the one that caused her own lust for him to increase, the one that showed her he wanted to have his ways with her.

_Bingo!_

‘What are you wearing?’ he asked, his voice rough and throaty.

‘Oh, this ol’ thing?’ Felicity asked innocently and played with the robe’s sash. ‘Well, I thought I could surprise you but you’re too tired for it.’

She slowly pulled the sash, and the robe slightly slid off her shoulders exposing some her skin and her lingerie. Felicity watched with satisfaction as his eyes went wider and tried to hide her amusement, when his mouth fell slightly open. She gave him a few seconds to enjoy the view, before she pulled the robe back and tied the sash, covering herself up. She didn’t miss how his brows furrowed and how he now had the expression of a predator stalking his prey. Little did he know, in reality- he was _her_ prey, and she had him exactly where she wanted him.

‘Anyway,’ she spoke again. ‘I’ll wait for you in the bedroom. Turn the lights out when you come, I might have fallen asleep.’

Smiling, she turned to walk away. She knew he’d come. He’d come for her. He’d come any second now.

Three…

Two…

On-…

Before she could even finish her countdown, two massive hands grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. Not giving her a chance to say anything, Oliver smashed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. He didn’t waste a second, and demanded entrance, which she gladly gave. His tongue stroked hers, while his hands were travelling all over her body- from the back of her head, to cupping her ass.

When she pulled away to catch her breath, he growled, then looked into her eyes.

‘On second thought,’ he started. ‘What were you saying about waking me up?’

She chuckled. ‘I’ll show you when we get to the bedroom.’

Oliver grabbed her hand and led her to her bed, all of his exhaustion suddenly gone, much to Felicity’s delight.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

It was 8:49 a.m. and Oliver was drawing lazy circles on Felicity’s bare back, as she lied on top of him, pressing small kisses to his neck.

If someone had told him two months ago that he’d be in a committed relationship with a nerdy-looking computer girl, not to mention Damien Darhk’s daughter, he would have probably laughed at the person’s face and then he’d beat him up.   

Yet, here he was. He couldn’t believe he had been with her for two months, two surprisingly happy months. It was a mystery to him why he hadn’t cheated on her already, or why he actually loved spending his free time with her.

Most of all, he was surprised by all the things he felt with her. He felt more relaxed, and he laughed much more. Even if they were together, he still wanted to impress her all the time. He couldn’t believe how a smart girl like her ended up with a guy like him. He was constantly afraid that one day she’d tell him their relationship had been a mistake and then she’d walk away.

While being with her, for the first time in his life Oliver Queen experienced jealously. And who could blame him? She was the most amazing girl in the world. How could he believe she was all his?!

That friend of hers, Barry Allen or whatever his name was, really didn’t help him. He was as smart as her ( _well, not really because Oliver was sure that his Felicity was the smarted person in the world_ ), he had a good job and had a baby face that for some reason girls found adorable. Even though Oliver didn’t follow him on social media, he sometimes stalked Allen on Instagram through Felicity’s profile. That Kid constantly posted pictures with Felicity- from their childhood, from their college days, or new ones and he’d put hashtags like ‘best friends’ or ‘love her’. _What an idiot!_

Oliver just couldn’t wait to tell everyone that they were dating so that Allen would stop posting such phot-

‘Whatcha thinking about?’ Felicity whispered against his neck.

‘Me?’ he asked. ‘Why do you think I’m thinking about something?’

‘Because,’ she pulled away and held herself up on her elbows. ‘You’re doing that weird thing with your fingers against my back.’

Oliver furrowed his eyebrows. ‘What thing?’

‘You know, the one where your thumb brushes against your other fingers.’   

‘Well,’ he glided his hands lower and slapped her butt slightly, before squeezing gently. ‘I was thinking about how good you looked in that robe, and how much better you looked with just your lingerie. But you looked your best when you had nothing on.’

She smiled and her dimples poked her cheeks in a way that made his heart melt. She leaned down and kissed him sweetly.

‘Seriously, though,’ she said when she pulled back. ‘What were you thinking about? Is something worrying you?’

‘I…’ he sighed. ‘You remember when I told you about the Queen family monthly barbeque?’

‘Ugh, how could I forget?!’ she grimaced. ‘Last month you came to me afterwards with a half-burnt hand.’

‘It wasn’t that bad.’ Oliver chuckled.

‘Yeah, tell that to all the blisters I had to put cream on.’

‘Aaaanyway,’ Oliver continued, while Felicity returned to kissing his neck again. ‘We’re meeting up again this Saturday.’

‘Mhm…’ she sucked his skin, making him hiss.

‘I was thinking… You could come with me.’

Felicity’s head shot up and she stared at him wide-eyed. The expression on her face was unreadable and Oliver started feeling awkward.

‘Felicity… say something.’

She stood quiet just looking into his eyes.

‘You do realize what you just asked of me, right?’ she finally asked.

‘Yes.’ He simply said.

‘You want me to meet your family.’

‘Aha.’

‘As your… friend?’ she asked and he furrowed his eyebrows. ‘Girlfriend?’

‘Yes.’ He nodded.

‘Oliver… I…’

‘C’mon, Felicity.’ He started playing with her fingers. ‘We’ve been together long enough for our closest people to know.’

‘Yeah, easy for you to say.’

‘Felicity…’

‘I thought you were happy like this.’ She spoke. ‘With what we have.’

‘I am. I really am.’ He pulled her in for a kiss. ‘But… as much as I love playing video games here, or teaching you to cook, or having sex with you on the couch, or on the floor, or in the shower, or against the wall, or on the counter, or-’

‘Your point is…?’ she interrupted him with flushed cheeks, making him laugh.

‘And as much as I like late night walks through the Glades, even though I spend most of them being too afraid that someone might attack us…’ he continued and she giggled. ‘I would really like my family to meet the woman I…’ he stopped himself. ‘The woman I’m seeing.’

‘I’m not so sure, Oliver.’ She bit her lip. ‘If your family finds out that means mine has to find out, too. And I don’t really think my father will take it well...’

‘I haven’t said anything bad about him, Felicity. Two weeks ago, I even said his team did well against the Patriots.’

‘Oliver…’

‘Felicity, when we started this we both knew this moment would come one day.’

‘Well…’ she looked to the side, avoiding his gaze.

‘Oh my God!’ he exclaimed. ‘You didn’t think we’d make it! You though I’d cheat or do something else to fuck this up.’

‘I’m sorry, Oliver. You are amazing and now I see you differently.’ She kissed his cheek. ‘But you did have a reputation, so you can’t really blame me.’

‘Okay, okay,’ he inhaled, before speaking again. ‘So, now that we’ve made it… Please? Join me?’

She just stared at him. ‘What if your parents don’t like me?’

‘Are you crazy?’ he grinned. ‘I told you- they already love you. My sister and my friends will, too.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘Well, you’re pretty good at making people love you.’

He said that without really thinking and widened his eyes, upon realizing what he’d just hinted.

‘So, are you in?’ he asked in order to change the subject.

She sighed heavily but nodded. ‘Alright.’

‘Yes!’ he grinned and flipped them over so that he was on top, before kissing her again.

‘You owe me.’ She added.

‘I’ll make it up to you just now.’ He said and started pressing kisses on her body, going lower and lower.

‘Oliver,’ she spoke. ‘Before you start whatever you have planned… I want to ask something.’

He moved up so that his face was against hers again. ‘Okay.’

‘What were you saying about the Glades?’ she furrowed her eyebrows and Oliver noticed how she tried to hide her smile. ‘You get scared when we’re there?’

‘Ha-ha, very funny, Felicity.’ He rolled his eyes at her obvious teasing, making her laugh. ‘Keep talking about it, I might not do what I was thinking of doing a few seconds ago.’

‘And here I thought I was safe with you.’ She shook her head.

‘Okay, in my defense,’ he interrupted her. ‘I don’t even know what to expect. If someone comes up to me, one on one, I could easily take him down with bare hands. But these people there- they carry guns and knives and God knows what… It’s not funny, stop laughing… They come in groups and… Ugh.’ He gave up when he saw that she was laughing too loud to even listen to him. ‘Shall we continue from where we stopped or should I start getting dressed?’

‘Well, I don’t know.’ she stopped laughing, but kept her smile. ‘That depends on where we were before we stopped.’

‘Let me remind you.’ Oliver smirked, and lowered himself against her body again, relieved that Felicity didn’t comment on his slight hint that he loved her.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Felicity gulped at the sight of the Queen Mansion around the corner. She was really doing this. She was going to meet Oliver’s family. The thought of pretending to be sick crossed her mind, but then she turned around and saw the smile on Oliver’s face. It hadn’t left his face for the whole drive. When she first got in his car he started talking about their family traditions and how excited he was that she had agreed.

She couldn’t crush his happiness by leaving. Not to mention how worried he’d get if she faked an illness… So instead, she decided to try.

For him.

When he parked, he quickly walked around and opened the door for her. For a second she hesitated, but when she met his eyes, she momentarily relaxed. He wrapped his arm around her waist tightly and thank God for that. Otherwise, she would’ve probably fallen down and ran away.

‘Ready?’ he grinned at her when they reached the door.

‘No.’

Oliver rolled his eyes, but pressed the button on the bell anyway.

A couple of moments later a tall and slim brunette girl opened the door and immediately locked her gaze with Felicity’s.

‘Hey, Speedy.’ Oliver waved his hand in front of the girl’s eyes to get her attention.

When he did, she looked at him, before smiling and hugging him close.

‘Welcome home, big brother.’ She greeted. ‘I missed you.’

‘You only saw me two days ago.’ Oliver chuckled and Felicity smiled slightly.

‘Yeah, but, you know.’ the girl shrugged and moved her eyes back to Felicity. ‘Hi!’

‘Hey.’ Felicity smiled and nodded.

‘I’m Thea.’ She extended her hand and Felicity shook it.

‘I’m Felicity.’

‘Ohh…’ Thea’s eyes widened and she met Oliver’s. ‘So this is… Felicity. _The_ _Felicity_.’

Felicity squeezed her eyes suspiciously and looked at Oliver again. What the hell had he said about her?

‘Well, unless there’s another Felicity… There could be. But I’m Felicity, as well.’

Thea turned her head around and grinned at her. ‘I’m really happy to finally meet you. We weren’t expecting you.’

‘What?’ Felicity met Oliver’s eyes. ‘I… I’m… Oh, God. Your family’s gonna hate me even more! They’re gonna think I’m a party-crasher! Which I’m not by the way. Although one time in college I went to a Goth party I wasn’t invited to and ate a pot brownie. Turned out the brownie had nuts so I ended up in the hospital and-’

‘Fe-li-ci-ty!’ Oliver grabbed her shoulders. ‘Relax… I told Mum, but I guess she forgot to mention to Thea.’

Felicity looked up to see his face. He had a small and genuine smile, his eyes were soft and caught the daylight, making them appear bluer that the ocean. His hair seemed blonder and he looked so, so handsome.

‘Right.’ Thea said, making Felicity snap out of her daydream. ‘Sorry for scaring you, Felicity. You’re very welcome here.’ She said and winked.

‘Shall we?’ Oliver took her hand in his and she started walking next to him.

They passed the living room, and the kitchen and led Felicity to the garden. The grass was green and fresh, and the air carried the scent of steaks and salads. By the barbeque, she saw the man himself- Robert Queen, in all of his glory, had a ‘Kiss the chef’ apron. By his side, Moira Queen was sitting on a chair and all of her attention was drawn to the young man talking to her. He had raven hair and blue eyes. He was very attractive, and Felicity assumed that was Tommy Merlyn, Oliver’s oldest friend. In front of him, a dark-colored man was shaking his head with a smile on his face. She smiled, because she’d met him a couple of times before. He was John Diggle, a.k.a. the only man from The Starling Arrows that her father didn’t hate. Damien actually had a lot of respect for him, because John was always calm on the field, never got into fights with other players, and spoke tactically and reserved about other teams. She’d seen John on a couple of press conferences and they had had a couple of small talks, but that was all. A young boy with a red hoodie was sitting next to John, silently eating and listening to the others. Then they all laughed at something Tommy said and Felicity couldn’t help but think how good they all looked- like a big and happy family.

‘Hey, guys!’ Thea shouted to get their attention. ‘Ollie is here and he brought Felicity!’

Suddenly, all eyes were on them and Felicity unconsciously pressed herself to Oliver’s side, slightly moving behind him. He chuckled and lightly pushed her in front of him. Felicity saw Moira standing up, slightly fixing her hair and walking towards them.

‘It’s so good to see you outside of the office, Miss Smoak.’ She took Felicity’s hand in hers and tapped it, before placing a kiss on Oliver’s cheek.

‘Thank you for having me.’ Felicity hugged herself nervously. ‘I hope I’m not bothering yo-’

‘Nonsense, Felicity!’ Robert Queen spoke.

‘Well, come on.’ Thea urged and wrapped her arm around Felicity’s shoulder, pulling her from Oliver. ‘Let’s go eat.’

Thea pushed Felicity down on the bench next to Tommy and sat next to the boy with the red hoodie.

‘Miss Smoak.’ John Diggle shook her hand. ‘It’s good to see you again.’

‘Me too, Mr. Diggle.’ She smiled.

‘Call me Digg.’

‘My, my…’ Felicity turned to look at Tommy Merlyn, who had spoked. ‘It’s such a pleasure to meet you.’

‘You too.’ She giggled when he placed a kiss to her hand.

‘If I’d known Damien Darhk’s daughter was so gorgeous, I would’ve signed up for his team.’

‘You don’t even play professional football, Tommy.’ Oliver pushed Felicity slightly, so that he could sit between her and his friend.

‘I’d start playing it.’ Tommy waved a finger in Oliver’s face and turned to talk to Felicity. ‘Just to be closer to you.’

‘Okay,’ Oliver nodded in annoyance. ‘That’s enough. Now shut up!’

‘You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch! Is he mistreating you the same way he’s mistreating me, Felicity?’ Tommy asked and pretended to be hurt. She giggled at the way he was teasing Oliver.

‘Tommy,’ Diggle spoke. ‘Stop before he punches you, man.’

‘Felicity,’ Thea spoke. ‘This is my boyfriend, Roy Harper.’

‘Hey!’ she smiled at him.

‘Sup?’ he nodded.

‘OH!’ Thea shouted. ‘I have a suggestion. Why doesn’t each of us tell the story of how Ollie told them about Felicity?’

‘How about no?’ Oliver rolled his eyes.

‘I’ll start!’ Thea placed her hands on the table. ‘One night he came over and told me he almost ran a girl over with his motorcycle-’

‘Thea…’

‘Shh, I’m talking!’ The youngest Queen spoke. ‘He said that when he saw her his breath stopped and he immediately wanted to date her.’

‘Awwww, tell me more.’ Tommy blinked rapidly and Felicity laughed at him.

‘He said,’ Thea continued. ‘That he didn’t know her name because she had walked away.’

‘I remember how he told me!’ Tommy said. ‘We were in the club, and two girls came over. One of them started flirting with me, and the other with Ollie.’

‘Tommy, ple-’

‘Then,’ the dark-haired man interrupter Oliver. ‘Oliver pushed her away and told her he was seeing someone.’

‘No way!’ Thea and Roy exclaimed.

Felicity laughed because everyone was clearly mocking Oliver. They were pretending to be shocked, or surprised and were trying to hold back their laughter.

‘Needless to say,’ Tommy spoke again. ‘Neither of us left with a girl that night. When we were walking back, he told me about this beautiful girl and how she looked like an angel, or a fairy-’

‘I didn’t say that!’ Oliver protested.

‘Yeah, you did!’ Tommy grinned. ‘Then he told me he loved her, and he wanted to marry her and give her beautiful babies-’

Everyone started laughing. Clearly, Tommy was just messing, because everyone knew Oliver Queen’s views on marriage and serious relationships and stuff like that.

‘That’s not what happened.’ Oliver grumpily smacked the table, making everyone laugh even harder.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Oliver was listening to their laughter but all he wanted to do was shove Tommy in a trash bin. Thea was helping Tommy with different remarks, and his parents, John and Roy were just laughing.

The only good thing coming out of their jokes, was the fact that Felicity was giggling as well. His annoyance slowly faded, and was replaced by happiness at the sight of her, with his family and closest friends. In that moment, Oliver realized he wanted that to last…

As they were eating, talking, telling stories, Oliver couldn’t stop thinking about how much he enjoyed having her there. How right it felt. He saw how much his mother and father warmed up to her, and so did Thea and his friends.

‘Well,’ his mother said all of a sudden. ‘I think it’s time…’ she stood up and went inside the mansion.

‘Hell yeaahh!’ Tommy slapped the table, while everyone else roared and cheered.

Oliver laughed at Felicity’s confused expression.

‘It’s time for what?’ she leaned in closer to whisper in his ear.

He smirked and caught her lips with his. She gasped and he slipped his tongue in her mouth, massaging hers.

‘Oliver!’ she pulled away and blushed. ‘We’re with your parents… Behave.’

He just grinned again and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Everyone was talking animatedly, as they were waiting for his mother’s return. Oliver reached over and took the hat off Thea and placed it backwards on his head.

‘Oh,’ she giggled. ‘I’m so beating your ass for that!’

‘You can’t, Speedy, and you know it!’ he teased.

‘He’s right, though, Thea.’ John added. ‘He always wins.’

‘There’s always a first time, isn’t there?’ Thea threw her used napkin towards Oliver.

‘What’s going on?’ Felicity asked.

‘You’ll see.’ Oliver winked at her.

‘Okaaay!’ his mom walked back and placed the big box on the table. ‘Ready?’

‘YEAAAHH!’ everyone roared, except for Felicity.

‘Felicity, you okay?’ Robert asked.

‘I…’ she bit her lip. ‘Sure, I just… I don’t know what’s going on. I have a feeling it’s some weird ritual. You’re not some kind of a sect are you? I mean, not that I mind, even if you are. Well, I do, but for you I’d make an exception. Also, I’m Jewish, and I don’t know if that’s allowed. Do you have any rules?’

Everyone stilled and stood quiet staring at her wide-eyed.

Tommy was the first one to burst out in laughter, followed by Oliver, Thea, John, Robert and Moira. Roy just grinned and shook his head.

‘I can’t breathe!’ Tommy was holding his stomach and wiping his eyes.

‘We’re not a sect,’ Oliver’s mother said in between laughing.

Oliver was still chuckling when he met Felicity’s eyes. Her cheeks were red and her mouth was hanging open.

‘Frack,’ she whispered for him to hear. ‘I just insulted your family!’

‘It’s okay, Felicity.’ He kissed her cheek.

 ‘So,’ his father started, when they were done laughing. ‘Felicity. We’re sorry we scared you. Moira, darling, could you explain what we’re gonna do now.’

‘Gladly.’ She answered. ‘So, Felicity, you probably don’t know this, because we try our best to keep it a secret from the press, and everyone else actually. But you’re our friend, so we’re gonna tell you a big family secret!’

Oliver saw Felicity nod and gulp next to him.

‘A little over a century ago, Robert’s grandfather arrived in America with nothing but big dreams. However, he barely had money to eat. So, how the hell, did he win enough money to set up Queen Consolidated?’

Felicity stood quiet- she just shook her head negatively, showing them she had no idea.

His mother opened the box and took out its’ content. When she saw Felicity’s mouth falling open in recognition, she smiled.

‘Gamble.’ Moira winked at his girlfriend.

‘It is in the Queen family’s blood, Felicity.’ His father spoke. ‘We’re crazy gamblers.’

Everyone laughed, including Felicity this time.

‘So, it’s a family tradition to play… poker?’ she asked.

‘Yep.’ Oliver nodded. ‘I’m the best gambler the family’s ever had in decades.’

‘Oh, yes.’ His mother nodded, looking rather proud. ‘No one’s ever won against him. I still remember cousin Charles’ expression when you beat him.’

‘Yeah.’ Thea added. ‘It’s about to change today. Take out the blackboard and scratch his name, Mom. He’s about to lose!’

‘From you?’ Oliver asked incredulously and laughed. ‘That’s sweet, Thea. I’ve let you win a lot of things but you know poker is something I’d hate to lose.’

‘It’s on!’ Thea barked.

‘It’s so on, Speedy!’

‘It’s getting hot in here!’ Diggle remarked, as he was taking the chips out.

 ‘You gonna play?’ Felicity asked Roy.

‘I can’t play.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t know how. I just watch. It tends to get pretty messy, so I like to stay out of it.’

‘Are you gonna play, Felicity?’ Diggle asked with an amused smile.

Oliver turned around to meet her eyes. The two of them stared at each other for a while. He smirked and raised his eyebrow in challenge. She gave him a half-smile.

‘Oh, yeah!’ she said.

 

Two hours later, they were still playing and much to Oliver’s surprise, Felicity was good.

Like really, really, _REALLY_ good. She was winning almost every hand. As much as Oliver liked her, he still hated losing.

‘Damn, Oliver.’ Roy commented. ‘Blondie might just take you down.’

‘Shut up, Roy!’ Oliver barked.

‘Oh, don’t be grumpy, now!’ Digg laughed.

Tommy, his father and mother were left with nothing, while Thea was still trying to reach them. Felicity was smiling devilishly and he looked at her suspiciously.

‘Are you sure it’s your first time playing?’ he asked.

‘Who said it was my first time?’ she asked with a raised eyebrow.

‘I thought… that you… Why didn’t you stop me when I started explaining the rules?’ Oliver was getting frustrated beyond belief. _How come a girl beat him in his own game?_ He couldn’t let that happen.

‘You were so cute, thinking I’m some damsel in distress.’

‘Last hand.’ Digg informed as he handed them their cards.

Oliver looked at his cards and smirked. _Oh, yeah_! She might have been leading till now, but he was definitely going to win the game. He sneaked a look at her, but couldn’t read anything in her expression.

‘So…bets?’ Digg asked again.

‘All in.’ Thea answered and leaned back.

‘Okay.’ John nodded. ‘Oliver? Felicity?’

Oliver locked eyes with her.

‘All in.’ he said, never moving his gaze from her.

She bit her lip and looked at her cards again. _Oh yeah!_ She was getting worried.

‘You can give up, babe!’ he spoke again. ‘Don’t be too hard on yourself. A lot of people have tried, but no one can beat Oliver Queen!’

‘It’s creepy when you talk about yourself in third person, Oliver.’ She said coolly and looked at Diggle. ‘All in.’

Tommy whistled, while Moira and Robert exchanged looks.

‘Nice!’ Tommy exclaimed.

Oliver looked at Felicity again. She had a serious expression on her face. Did she really think she could win? Oliver looked at his hand again. His cards were pretty good! Why was she betting everything, though? Was she bluffing? She was bluffing. She had to be.

Digg took out the cards from the deck and placed them on the table.

‘Thea? You’re first.’ Digg said.

Thea smirked and put her cards on display.

‘Full house- eights full of Aces.’ John announced.  

Ace, 8, 8, 8, Ace, a 6 and a 4.

Oliver grinned and placed his cards on the table for Digg to read.

‘Oh, wow, a higher full house.’ His friend exclaimed. ‘Aces full of sixes.’

‘Damn it!’ Thea cursed and stood up.

Felicity turned around to meet his eyes, to which he just smirked.

On the table there were 3 Aces, 2 sixes, one 4 and an 8.

_He was gonna win._

‘Don’t worry, babe.’ He gave her a quick peck on the lips and whispered. ‘I’ll make it up to you later.’

‘Felicity?’ Digg asked.

Felicity slowly glided her cards on the table till they reached Diggle’s fingers. As she was moving her hands, her eyes never left Oliver’s.

They were staring at each other and Oliver was holding his breath. He could see her taking slow and steady breaths, a neutral expression on her face, not giving away anything. He felt the rush of adrenaline from the unknown, and his fastening heartbeat. They were still sitting close, and he could lean down and kiss her. But not right now. Later.

Now…

He had a game to win.

‘Oh my God!’ he heard his mother’s gasp.

‘Holy shit!’ Tommy shouted.

Oliver turned around and saw everyone’s shocked expression, as they were staring at the cards on the table.

Could she…?

 _No_ ….

He snapped his head to the side to look at her. She was already looking at him with a raised eyebrow and a half-smirk.

He then met Digg’s wide eyes, who just shook his head. Oliver slowly looked down.

A 5 and a 7…

‘A straight flush…’ Digg managed to say, as he arranged the cards.

8, 7, 6, 5, 4.

‘Yaaaayy, Felicity!’ Thea shouted and was soon followed by everyone.

Everyone was roaring and yelling, while all Oliver could do was blink and stare at the cards on the table.

Oliver had never _EVER_ lost before, so he was still sitting there waiting for the shock to wash over.

‘Damn, man!’ John patted his back. ‘She really played you!’

Oliver looked up and saw everyone hugging and greeting Felicity, while she was laughing. Then his mother took out the infamous blackboard and wrote her name with her score above his.

He wanted to be angry. He wanted to be enraged. He wanted to get up and hit something…

But the moment he saw her name written under the title of ‘Queen’s poker score board’ something inside of him switched. He looked at her again.

She was so, so beautiful. She was so smart, and funny… _And apparently good at poker_.

If Oliver hadn’t been sure about it, he sure as hell was now.

He was truly… madly… deeply… in love with Felicity Smoak.

And when he looked at her name on the board again, he made himself a silent promise that one day he’d make her a Queen.

It was starting to get dark, so slowly everyone moved back into the mansion. Oliver stood alone outside for one second, staring at the sky, when he heard footsteps.

‘Don’t worry, babe.’ He heard Felicity’s voice and smiled. ‘I’ll make it up to you later.’

She wrapped her hands around his waist and he chuckled at her words, the same ones he’d said to her earlier.

‘You are remarkable, Felicity Smoak.’ He turned around and smiled at her.

‘Thank you for remarking on it.’ She grinned at him and lifted herself on her tiptoes to give him a small and sweet kiss.

She took his hand and led him inside.

Yes, it still hurt his pride that he’d lost the game, but if it meant that she’d smile this brightly and laugh this freely and hold him so tightly, he was willing to lose every damn time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it!   
> Also, things will happen in the next chapter. Hope you stick around. ^_^  
> The poker stuff was taken from Casino Royale. The idea was mine, though :D   
> Thank you for your comments and love for this story!   
> See you next week! ^_^


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys!  
> I'm so sorry for the delay, I had to study, and then one of my biggest crushes from high school contacted me and I spent a lot of time... talking to him :D  
> To apologise, I will upload the new chapter this Friday, so you won't have to wait too long! YAY ^_^  
> Sorry if there are any mistakes. They're all mine.  
> Anyway, happy reading ^_^

Oliver tied his shoes and took one last look in his mirror.

Every year, kids in Starling played a game and raised money for different charities. This year, the event was taking place a couple of weeks before the Super Bowl.

Oliver, as a member of one of Starling’s best football teams, was invited to the game and so were all of his teammates. Slade Wilson, _that asshole_ , had made them all go because it was ‘good for the press’.

Since it was an informal event, Oliver had decided to wear a simple blue Henley and jeans, with a black leather jacket. He didn’t feel like going, but he was forced to. He would’ve preferred to stay home and ask Felicity to come over but unfortunately for him, she had some family business, as well, and she couldn’t spend the day with him either way.

He sighed one last time and left his place. When he walked out of the building, he saw Digg leaning on his car, waiting for him.

‘You’re late.’ John remarked.

‘I’m sorry.’ Oliver grinned. ‘I just… didn’t want to come.’

Digg huffed and shook his head. ‘You’re something else, Queen.’

The two man got into the car and Digg started driving.

‘Oh, by the way,’ Oliver started. ‘We gotta pick Tommy up on our way.’

‘Okay, sure.’ Digg nodded.

‘I’m gonna turn the radio on, that okay?’ Oliver asked.

‘Yeah, man, go ahead.’

Oliver pressed a button and the music started playing.

‘ _… But I got such a good heart,_

_I’ll make a motherfucker wonder if he did it._

_Damn right, and I’ll do it again_

_‘Cause I am right so I gots to win…_ ’

Oliver chuckled and turned around to look at Digg, who was grinning from ear to ear.

‘It’s our victory song, Digg.’ Oliver commented.

‘Hell yeah it is.’ John answered. ‘Turn that shit up.’

Oliver laughed loudly and turned the volume higher. The two men started singing and laughing together.

‘ _But won’t be the one ending up on his knees, Bitch Please!_

_If the only thing you, cats, did is come out to play_

_Stay out of my way, motherfucker!_

_…_

_X gon’ give it to ya,_

_He gon’ give it to ya!_ ’

They yelled and sang, and laughed. When the song was over, another one started and Oliver immediately recognized it. Just as Digg was about to change it, Oliver stopped him.

‘Wait, wait,’ he started. ‘Felicity loves this song.’

‘Alright.’

Oliver leaned back and started listening to the song.

‘ _So she said ‘What’s the problem, baby?’_

_What’s the problem? I don’t know, well, maybe I’m in love,_

_Think about it, every time I think about it, can’t stop thinking ‘bout it._

_How much longer will it take to cure this?_

_Just to cure it cause I can’t ignore it if it’s love,_

_Makes me wanna turn around and face me, but I don’t know nothing ‘bout love…_ ’

‘Look at you!’

Oliver turned around to look at Digg.

‘You’re all smiley and smitten.’

Oliver chuckled. ‘Doesn’t sound very manly.’

‘Well,’ John laughed. ‘I didn’t mean it like that.’

‘What _did_ you mean then?’

‘You just…’ Digg shook his head. ‘You look happy.’

Oliver smiled slightly, as he was looking at his friend.

‘And content.’ Digg quickly glanced at Oliver, before turning his eyes back on the road.

‘That’s because I am.’ Oliver nodded slowly and looked forward as well.

‘It’s good to hear that, man.’ Diggle spoke again. ‘You’ve been working so hard for so long, and you’ve been on your own all this time. You deserve this, Oliver.’

Oliver smiled. ‘Thanks… But I wasn’t alone. I had you. And Tommy… And my family.’

‘Yeah, but…’ Digg grinned. ‘We can’t give you orgasms now, can we?’

 Oliver laughed loudly. ‘Nope. You can’t.’

‘That’s why I’m happy you have her.’ John chuckled as well. ‘Seriously, though, she’s a great girl, a keeper.’

‘She is.’ Oliver smiled softly.

A couple of minutes later, they reached Tommy’s building, and saw him already waiting outside. He greeted them, as he sat on the backseat, and the three of them started driving to the Stadium.

They parked and started walking to the VIP section. On their way, they stopped a couple of times, because fans recognized Oliver and John and took pictures with them.

The place was already full and cameras were flashing from different directions. Digg and Oliver smiled, waved and joked around, as they made their way to their places. Just as Oliver was about to get in their row, his breath caught.

The sight of Felicity, made him shudder. On the seat next to her, stood Damien Darhk

‘It’s Felicity!’ Tommy exclaimed behind him and shouted. ‘Hey, Felici-’

Oliver quickly poked Tommy’s ribs with his elbow to stop him from talking. Felicity seemed to have heard him, because she turned in their direction, and when she saw them, her eyes widened in shock. Her brows furrowed and her mouth fell open. Luckily for them, at least Damien hadn’t heard it, so he was still oblivious to Oliver’s arrival.

Oliver started walking slowly towards his place, and just then Felicity’s dad acknowledged his presence. His eyes shot up and a disgusted look appeared on his face. Oliver clenched his jaw and held his head high, not giving anything away. He finally reached his seat, quickly glancing at Felicity, who was trying to avoid his gaze, and then sat down, not saying a word.

‘Good to see you, Mr. Diggle.’ Damien spoke coolly.

‘Likewise, Mr. Darhk.’ John responded with the same tone.

Oliver knew they weren’t friendly, but at least they were on talking terms. Darhk had a lot of respect for John, because he at least managed to stay classy and didn’t get in verbal, nor physical fights with other players. He turned around to look at his friends and received a tight nod from Digg, and a worried expression from Tommy. Oliver closed his eyes for a second and gave them a slight smile, telling them that everything was going to be fine.

A couple of rows in front of them sat Slade Wilson with his girlfriend Shado and they were talking and laughing at something.

‘Look, Felicity,’ Damien spoke. ‘That’s Slade Wilson, The Arrows’ coach.’

‘I…’ she gulped audibly. ‘I’ve heard about him. I can’t remember where from. Probably you… Or Barry. I mean, there’s no one else that could talk to me about him, right? It’s not like I know people from the Arrows…Are you hungry? I know I am.’ she laughed loudly and grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it in her mouth.

Oliver slowly turned around to look at her with a ‘WTF’ expression on his face. Her cheeks were red and there was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. Her eyes were moving rapidly ahead of her.

‘He met her in some night club, where she was working and they’ve been together for years.’ Damien continued.

‘Well, that’s… lovely.’ Felicity commented.

‘Lovely?’ Damien sounded repulsed. ‘Who wants to meet their partner in such a place? You meet your ideal partner in a good place… Like a library or a bookshop, for example.’

Oliver barely managed to hold back a laughter at her father’s comment. He remembered the day when he first met Felicity right in front of that bookshop in the Glades. _If her father only knew…._

‘This is something an idiot would do. No real man and no self-respecting woman would want to start a relationship like that…’ Damien let out a sigh. ‘But then again, he and most of the players from his team are brainless assholes and that’s very common for them. They get drunk and high and then do stupid things like that. There’s this idiot, I’m not gonna give you names right now, but he’s been spotted leaving clubs with different women night after night. Sometimes, he’d leave with two or three at the same time.’

Oliver held his hands fisted in his pockets and his jaw clenched. He knew Damien was talking about him, trying to provoke him to cause another scandal, but he wasn’t going to fall for that. He was going to stay quiet and ignore it.

He was only hoping that Felicity wouldn’t pull away from him after all these things her father was currently telling her. Very often, he thought he didn’t deserve her, but for some unknown to him reason, she stayed. He was praying that after hearing all these things about him wouldn’t make her run away.

The game went on and on and Oliver was trying really hard to focus on it. Felicity was sitting stiffly next to him, and on her other side, Damien hadn’t stopped talking shit about the Arrows.

One of the players scored and everyone stood up to applaud him. Oliver was on his feet as well, but he wasn’t clapping. Everyone around him was roaring, shouting and clapping, except for him and Felicity.

All of a sudden, small fingers brushed his hand and tangled loosely with his fingers. He slowly turned around and looked at her. She was still looking forward, not meeting his eyes, but a small smile was plastered on her face.

Oliver felt his own lips curling up, and he gave her a slight squeeze. Right before they sat down, she released his hand.

‘I’m gonna go use the ladies’ room.’ She told her parents.

When she turned around, she met Oliver’s eyes and she shook her head slightly giving him a sign to follow her, and then she walked away.

Oliver waited a couple of seconds, to make sure there was some distance between them. He glanced in Damien’s direction, and when he saw him talking to Felicity’s mom, he slid out of his seat and started walking after Felicity. He saw her a couple of meters ahead of him. As she was walking towards the restroom, she was turning her head around from time to time, to make sure he was still following him. A couple of fans stopped him and asked for photos. He gave them a tight smile and did as they asked.

When he was alone, he started walking again, but Felicity was nowhere to be seen. He stopped and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He looked around and just as he was about to take his phone out and call her, he felt her small hands pulling him backwards to the side. He grinned and let her drag him behind one of the columns. Suddenly, he found himself pressed to it, while her lips were on his in a bruising kiss. Her left hand was gently pulling his short hair, while her right one slid lower and lower till she reached his back pocket. She dug her nails, making him hiss and he did the same to her. He cupped her butt with one hand, while the other kept her head in place. He bit her lower lip, making her moan, and when he released it, she repeated his action. Oliver took control, as he turned her around and pressed her back to the column. Both of her hands wrapped around his neck, pulling him as close as possible.

When they finally pulled away, they just breathed heavily, still in each other’s hands. She slightly pulled back and their eyes met.

‘I didn’t get to say hi out there, so… Hi.’ She smiled at him.

‘Hey.’ He grinned back.

‘Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be here?’ she asked. ‘I wouldn’t have come if I had known.’

‘Why?’ he furrowed his eyebrows.

‘To avoid what just happened out there.’ She tilted her head. ‘I’m so sorry about my father.’

‘Yeah, well,’ Oliver winced. ‘I’m kind of used to that. What I’m not used to is not responding.’

‘Thank you for that, by the way!’ Felicity smiled at him.

‘Anything for you.’ He leaned down and kissed her softly.

‘Anyway…’ she spoke when they pulled away. ‘I should probably get back.’

‘Okay.’ He nodded.

Just as she started walking, Oliver caught her hand. ‘Hey,’ he started. ‘Tomorrow night is still on, right?’

‘Yes.’ She confirmed with a huge smile on her face.

‘Great, I’ll pick you up at around 12:00.’

‘Okay.’

Oliver watched her back as she walked away from him, going towards her seat. He stood still a couple of moments and when some time had passed, he decided to go back, as well.

He went to their row and started walking towards his seat.

‘… I’m just saying, your lips were much redder.’ He heard Damien’s voice.

‘I told you! My makeup was slightly ruined so I wiped it.’ Felicity muttered. ‘Did something interesting happen while I was away?’

‘Dylan scored and…’

Oliver stopped listening the second he made sure Damien had bought it.

‘Nice lipstick, Oliver.’ Digg whispered. ‘That shade suits you.’

Oliver looked at him in horror, and wiped his lips on his hands.

‘Thanks.’ He whispered back, as he rubbed his hands to get rid of the lipstick.

‘Anyway,’ Damien spoke again. ‘Those Arrow guys are pro-’

‘Oh my God!’ Felicity exclaimed. ‘Is that Aaron Dabney playing? He’s grown up so much! I remember when he was 6 or 7 and wanted to play professionally. Dad, are thinking of taking him on your team?’

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and Oliver knew she was probably trying to stop Damien from talking shit. She kept on doing that during the whole game- every time her father was about to say something rude, she stepped in and made some comment about the game or players.

Oliver spent the rest of the game talking to Tommy and Digg, trying to avoid any contact with Felicity.

At the end, Digg and he decided they had given enough photographs and had taken enough pictures for today, so they snuck out earlier to avoid all the pushing and pulling and the screaming fans. When he reached the end of the isle, he stole a quick glance at Felicity’s direction and immediately met her eyes. She blew him a small kiss, making him grin and return it. Her own smile widened, but she quickly turned to look away. He stood still for a second, just looking at her with a smile on his face, and then remembered the hundreds of paparazzi, who were attending the event. He quickly looked around, and then followed his friends outside.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was 11:45 p.m. and Felicity was carefully doing her eyeliner, when her phone rang. That sudden distraction startled her, and she accidentally drew the black line all the way to her temple.

‘Frack!’ she looked at her reflection with a wince.

She sighed and reached for her phone.

‘What?’ she snapped.

‘Hey, baby. What’s up?’ Barry asked in a low voice that was nothing like his usual one.

‘I ruined my damn makeup because of you!’ she put her free hand on her waist.

‘Are you going somewhere?’ her friend asked with his normal voice.

‘I…Yeah, I am.’ She smiled. ‘Oliver and I are going to Tommy’s night club.’

‘That’s…’ Barry fell silent. ‘Great, I guess. I hope everything goes fine.’

Felicity winced. ‘Meaning…?’

‘Well,’ Barry cleared his throat. ‘Weren’t you hiding? What if somebody sees him with you?’

‘Oh, that.’ She smiled. ‘No, look, we have it all covered. Oliver booked the whole VIP section for us only. His sister and some of his friends will be there.’

‘Okay…’

‘No one can get there without going through their bodyguards.’ Felicity assured her friend. ‘We can still hear the music, we can see the dance floor from the glass wall, but they can’t see us, so it’s pretty safe.’

‘Good to hear.’

‘Did you need anything?’ she asked.

‘Patty and I were at my place and I was gonna tell you to come over. We’re playing Scrabble.’

‘Barry!’ Felicity exclaimed. ‘Why don’t you two come with us tonight?’

 ‘I don’t know.’ Barry spoke shyly. ‘We don’t want to bother you.’

‘You’re not going to!’

‘We can’t come just like that!’ Barry explained. ‘What about Oliver?’

‘He won’t mind.’ Felicity assured him.

There was a silence at the other end.

‘Patty!’ Barry called all of sudden. ‘Felicity invited us to go clubbing with her and her boyfriend.’

‘She has a boyfriend?’ Felicity heard Patty’s voice. ‘Who?’

‘Um…’ Barry hesitated.

‘It’s alright, Barry, you can tell her.’ Felicity reassured him.

‘Oliver Queen.’ Barry said.

‘WHAT?!?!’

Felicity chuckled.

‘SHE’S DATING OLIVER QUEEN?!?!’ Patty kept on shouting.

‘Relax’ Barry spoke.

‘And you knew?!’

‘I did, bu- OW! What are you doing?’ Barry exclaimed.

‘Patty!’ Felicity yelled. ‘Relax!’

‘Felicity?’ Patty took the phone from Barry’s hands. ‘You’re dating Oliver freaking Queen and you didn’t tell me?’

‘Well, given the circumstances, I think it’s understandable.’ Felicity spoke.

‘Okay, fine, I’m cool.’ Patty took a deep breath. ‘So you’re asking us out?’

‘Yeah, we’re going to Verdant.’ Felicity said, as she wiped her ruined eye.

‘How long do we have do get ready?’

‘About… 20 minutes?’

‘Okay, good!’ Patty exclaimed. ‘Our drinks are on you for keeping this from me!’

Felicity rolled her eyes and smirked. ‘Fine.’

When the phone conversation was over, she re-did her eye and started putting on a bright pink lipstick. Suddenly, she heard her door opening and smiled, knowing who it was.

‘Felicity!’ Oliver yelled from the other room. ‘It’s me.’

She finished her lip make up and blew a kiss in the mirror. Walking out of her room, she was met by the sight of him sitting on her couch, looking through her tech magazine. When he lifted his gaze to look at her, she saw his eyes widening and going up and down her body. Her short black dress with cutouts on the back did wonders to her body, and she knew he’d love it. She slowly turned around to let him see more, and when she looked at him again he was on his feet. She watched him watching her in awe and couldn’t help her smirk.

‘What’s the matter, Mister Queen?’ she asked teasingly. ‘You look like you’ve swallowed your dictionary.’

He stood in front of her with a predatory look in his eyes that sent shivers down her spine.

‘There are things I don’t need a dictionary for.’ He replied and walked towards her.

He leaned down and captured her lips with his. Both of his hands grabbed her bottom and just as he was about to lift her up, she pulled away.

‘You’re gonna ruin my lipstick.’ She told him and chuckled at his confused expression. ‘Also, you have some of it right now.’

He rolled his eyes and let her wipe his mouth. ‘Why do you do this to me?’

‘Cause I’m an evil genius.’ She grinned. ‘Oh, by the way… I invited Barry tonight.’

Oliver met her eyes and furrowed his eyebrows.

‘Why?’ he asked.

‘Cause he’s my friend and-’

Oliver huffed and pulled away.

‘Oliver Queen, are you jealous?’ she asked incredulously.

‘What is it with you and this guy?’ he asked.

‘He’s my oldest friend.’ Felicity walked closer to him.

‘Does he know you’re just friends?’ Oliver moved away again and Felicity chuckled. ‘I’m glad you find my irritation amusing.’ He said sarcastically.

‘Oliver, look at me.’ She grabbed his hands. When he met her eyes, she smiled widely at him. ‘Barry has a girlfriend.’

Oliver stood still for a second, just blinking. ‘What?’

‘Yes, he does.’ Felicity nodded.

Oliver let out a relieved sigh and shook his head. ‘I swear, sometimes I feel like-’

‘Stop feeling like that!’ she patted his cheek. ‘I’ve known him my whole life! If something was going on between us, it would’ve happened by now.’

He nodded.

‘I only want you.’ She assured him.

‘Good.’ He smiled. ‘Cause I only want you, too.’

‘Now that we’re clear…’ she grinned. ‘We gotta pick Barry and Patty up from his place.’

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

‘… MC Hammer and, you know, can’t touch this.’ Barry laughed and Felicity followed him.

Oliver gave a tight smile, not really understanding what was supposed to be a joke. They were sitting in a cab, Barry was in the passenger’s seat, and Oliver was sitting in the back between Felicity and Barry’s girlfriend. Talking about her, she hadn’t stopped staring at him for the past 15 minutes and it was starting to worry him. When Felicity introduced them, Patty had mentioned she was a huge fan. All of his fans were like that, but he had never been worried before, because he usually spent less than 30 minutes around fans. And now, he was supposed to spend the whole night with this girl and it was kind of creepy.

‘Can…’ he started and turned to look at her. ‘Can I help you?’

Her eyes widened and she started stuttering. ‘I… well… I’m not… This is so surreal.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m in a cab with Oliver Queen! OLIVER QUEEN!’

Oliver winced and turned to look at Felicity. She was looking at him with a small sympathetic smile. He pointed his index finger to his head and twisted it, asking Felicity about the other girl’s sanity. She just chuckled and nodded.

‘They’re just excited.’ She said, while Patty and Barry were freaking out over the fact that they were with him.

‘Oliver Queen is with us!’ she exclaimed.

‘I know!’ Barry responded just as enthusiastically.

Oliver met the driver’s eyes through the rearview mirror and shifted uncomfortably. _His night was supposed to be quieter than that._

‘And he’s dating our friend!’ Patty spoke again. ‘He’s dating Felic-’

‘Okay!’ Oliver interrupted her. ‘That’s enough.’

He looked at the driver again. Oliver knew that paparazzi paid a good amount for saucy information, and he was hoping that this guy wouldn’t tell anything. He looked at Felicity again and met her worried eyes. She mouthed ‘Sorry’ to him and he just sighed.

‘Patty,’ Felicity started. ‘Why don’t you tell us about that case with the twins that robbed a bank last week?’

‘Oh, those freaks?’ Patty winced but started talking anyway.

Oliver didn’t really listen, he was busy examining the driver with his eyes. When they finally reached Verdant, Barry took his wallet out.

‘No, no, no.’ Oliver stopped him. ‘It’s on me.’ He then turned to speak to Felicity. ‘The three of you go, Tommy will be waiting for you. I’ll see you in 5.’

She nodded and led the others into the club. Oliver got out of the cab and walked to the side of the driver’s window.

‘How much?’ he asked.

‘Forty.’ The man replied.

Oliver took out two hundred dollars out of his wallet and handed them to the man. At first, he looked surprised, but then he just cleared his throat.

‘I hope I don’t see paparazzi when I come out.’ Oliver looked at the other man, holding his gaze, not blinking once.

‘I don’t think you will.’ He gulped.

‘Good.’ Oliver nodded and started walking away, before turning to speak again. ‘By the way, I have a very strong memory. And your car registration is now in my brain. Just keep that in mind.’

He winked and started walking towards the entrance.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Felicity was dancing on top of one of the tables, and Oliver was sitting on the chair, grinning at her. She chuckled when Patty and Barry kneeled in front of her, while Tommy pretended he was throwing money at her. John was sitting next to Oliver and was laughing with him. Thea climbed on the table with Roy’s help and started dancing next to her.

A song started playing, and Felicity immediately recognized it.

‘I love The Weeknd!!!’ she shouted, while Thea wrapped her arms around her neck.

‘I’m so drunk!’ the younger girl yelled over the music.

‘Me too!’ Felicity laughed, as they started going lower and lower, in sync with the rhythm of the music.

‘Shake it!’ Tommy yelled.

Thea and Felicity started twerking, until they were both pulled down from the table.

‘I think that’s enough of the two of you together.’ Oliver sighed.

‘Ollie!’ Thea struggled to get out of his embrace, while Felicity clung tighter to him.

‘Hey, handsome!’ she spoke, as she wrapped her arms around her neck pulling him closer to her.

When he finally released Thea, he turned to her. ‘You should go home now, Speedy.’

‘Ollie!’ she cried out and stomped her foot.

‘You’re drunk and I can’t even understand how!’ he said. ‘I told Tommy to give you just water and-’ he turned to his friend. ‘Tommy…’

‘Ollie, man!’ Tommy grinned. ‘Are you talking to me?’

‘Did you give her alcohol?’ Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow.

‘No!’ Tommy said avoiding his gaze.

‘Yeah, he did!’ Thea confessed.

‘Thea!’ Tommy looked at her.

Oliver let out a sigh, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

‘Roy,’ he spoke. ‘Please, take her home!’

‘No, Ollie!’ Thea started begging. ‘Please, don’t.’

‘Yeah, man, it’s okay!’ Tommy spoke.

‘Don’t send me home just yet!’

‘Oliver,’ Felicity whispered in his ear.

When he looked down to meet her eyes, she pulled him lower and kissed him. For a second, he didn’t respond but soon he was kissing her just as eagerly. Felicity pulled away and looked around. With a smile, she discovered that everything was back to normal and everyone was dancing again. She met Thea’s eyes and the young Queen mouthed her a ‘Thank you’ to which Felicity winked. She felt Oliver’s hand on her cheek as he turned her head towards him, kissing her again. He walked back, until he hit one of the bar stools. He sat down, and pulled her even closer. His hands were holding her back, and she moved one of her own over his. She slowly glided it down her back, and placed it over her butt. He groaned against her lips and squeezed slightly. Felicity couldn’t suppress her moan.

She was getting incredibly hot. She knew her cheeks were burning, and her want for him grew stronger and stronger. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol or not, but she placed her hand over the front of his jeans and pressed her palm against his bulge. He hissed and squeezed her tighter.

‘Oliver,’ she panted. ‘I want you.’

‘I want you, too.’ She kissed her jaw.

‘Now!’ she commanded.

‘Not now, babe, there are people here.’

‘I don’t care.’ She scratched his neck with her nails. ‘I need you to fuc-’

‘Felicity!’ Thea approached them.

‘Yes, what is it?’ Felicity spoke, feeling slightly irritated from the interruption.

She was so turned on, and so was Oliver, and _why was he being such a dink and saying ‘No’_?  

‘I need to use the restroom.’ Thea continued. ‘Come with me.’

‘No, Thea,’ Felicity spoke. ‘I’m in the middle of somethi-’

‘Go, babe.’ Oliver spoke.

‘Oliver…’ Felicity looked at him. ‘We were just going to-’

‘You look so hot, Felicity. You need to cool down.’ He gave her a small smile.

‘But…’ Felicity furrowed her eyebrows. ‘I need-’

‘Later!’ he promised.

_What an ass._

Felicity angrily got out of his embrace and grabbed Thea’s arm, leading her down the stairs. They started bumping into bodies, that were grinding against each other and the different lights were messing with the girls’ vision, causing them to walk in a zig-zag motion. Felicity felt a couple of nasty hands trying to grab her butt, but decided to ignore them. They reached the restroom and discovered in shock that there was a long queue.

‘I’ll wait for you by the bar.’ Felicity yelled in Thea’s ear. ‘I need water.’

Thea nodded. Felicity kissed her cheek and left her alone.

She reached the bar. ‘A water bottle, please.’ She told the guy behind the bar.

He raised his eyebrows and shook his head. A couple of second later he gave her a bottle and she paid. She took a sip and after all the alcohol she’d taken, this water tasted like it was taken straight from God’s magical pond.

Just as she was about to drink again, she felt a hand on her lower back, and it was not the hand she wanted. She turned around and looked in horror at the man standing beside her.

‘Hey, Lissy!’ Carter Bowen grinned at her, clearly drunk. Drunker than her.

‘Carter!’ Felicity pulled away from him. ‘What are you doing here? You have an early training tomorrow, I believe?’

‘Your dad gave me the day off.’ He smirked and got closer again. ‘And what about you? Don’t tell me you’re here alone.’

Felicity could smell weed, mixed with alcohol as he was speaking, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

‘No, I’m here with… friends.’ She answered back.

‘Really?’ he looked around before speaking again. ‘How stupid of them to leave you all by yourself.’

‘I’m just waiting here.’ Felicity spoke again. ‘They’re here… Around.’

The jerk kept staring at her, and damn, if he was as good at playing football as he was at staring, her father’s team would probably win every time.

‘Aren’t you here with friends, too?’ she gave him a tight smile.

‘Yeah.’

‘It was great talking to you,’ she started. ‘But I don’t want to keep you away from them and…’

She stopped talking the second she felt his hand on her tight. She looked down at it, and saw it moving higher and higher. Her own hand shot down and grabbed his.

‘Carter…’ she spoke. ‘What. Are. You doing?’

‘I’m just being friendly, Lissy!’ he leaned towards her, but she grabbed his shoulders and stopped him from moving closer.

‘Wow!’ she pushed him away. ‘Stop! I’m trying to tell you to back off nicely, but in order for me to do that, you need to stop being a dick.’

‘Whatcha talking about?’ he laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist. ‘C’mon, Lissy. Let me buy you drink.’

‘Let me go. NOW!’ she tried to push him away. ‘Carter! Now!’

‘Hey!’

Felicity’s eyes closed in relief at the sound of that familiar voice. _Oliver_. She lifted her gaze to look at him and the angry expression on his face and the wild look in his eyes, made her shiver.

‘Let her go. Now!’ he got closer and Felicity finally got rid of Carter’s nasty hands.

She stood up and got behind Oliver, still not touching him completely so that Carter wouldn’t suspect a thing.

‘Queen!’ Carter started. ‘Drinking away the pain from not being named ‘Hottest football player of 2015’, huh?’

‘Haha, funny.’ Oliver spoke. ‘At least I’ve been named MVP 3 times by the league itself and not just a random chick magazine that knows nothing about football.’

‘You sound bitter.’ Carter commented.

‘Better bitter than desperate.’ Oliver reached for Felicity’s hand behind his back and squeezed it. ‘When a girl says ‘No’, she means it. Dick.’

‘What do you care?’ Carter spit out. ‘Do you even know who she is? Whose daughter she i-’

‘Yeah, I do.’ Oliver answered. ‘Now, go away and leave her alone before I break your arms.’

Carter looked pissed and took a few steps towards Oliver.

‘I can smash your pretty little face in the-’

‘Be my guest and try.’ Oliver stood straight.

‘Stop!’ Felicity came from behind Oliver. ‘Don’t make a scene here.’ She then turned to Carter. ‘You! Go away before I call Dad. There’s nothing easier than finding a new ass to warm the benches while the others are out to play.’

She smiled upon seeing Carter’s offended expression. He moved his eyes to Oliver who was now behind her, and then moved them back to her, narrowing them. After a couple of silent moments, he left them alone without saying another word.

She turned to look at Oliver and saw him, still having that angry expression on his face.

‘It’s okay.’ She put her hand on her cheek and smiled at him.

Slowly, he relaxed and met her eyes. He smiled back and his expression softened. He looked so handsome and Felicity almost lifted up to kiss him. Almost.

Then she remembered where they were, and that people could be watching. She quickly removed her hand and looked around.

‘We should go.’ He said.

‘Thea?’

‘You go and wait for her by the restroom and when she’s done, you and I are leaving.’ He smiled.

She nodded and went to the restroom to wait for Thea. When she was finally done, the two of them went back to the VIP section, where Oliver had already picked Felicity’s things up.

‘We’re leaving, guys.’ He announced.

‘So soon?’ Tommy asked.

‘Yeah. I’m getting tired.’ Oliver nodded.

‘And to think you used to be the biggest party animal.’ John grinned.

Oliver and Felicity made their way out using Tommy’s back door and they ended up in a dark and tight alley. They looked around and when they saw it was clear, they starting walking towards one end. Oliver took his phone out and dialed a cab number.

All of a sudden, a man with a camera came out of nowhere. Felicity froze in shock, but before she could react, Oliver started pulling her towards the other end of the street. He started running, clearly forgetting that she had heels on. Felicity heard the shouts behind her and saw a few flashes. The guy was asking who she was, and whether she was Oliver’s new lady love and stupid things like that.

‘Don’t turn around!’ Oliver commanded. ‘Don’t let him see your face.’

Felicity felt his grip on her hand tightening and gulped. The second they got out of the alley, they realized in shock that they were trapped. On their left a group of paparazzi stood, and talked to each other, eager to get a snap of Oliver.

‘This way!’ Oliver said.

He started pulling her in the other direction, and Felicity heard all the voices shouting behind them. She quickly glanced back and saw at least 5 people running after them. Oliver quickened their pace and led her through the street.

Felicity’s heart was beating wildly and she was still slightly drunk and dizzy, and she was scared.

This wasn’t how her father was supposed to find out. She wasn’t supposed to be drunk in a dark alley with Oliver Queen.

 _God damn it_! She was so stupid to agree to come! Everything between them was great and now it would be ruined…

While Felicity was busy having an internal argument, she didn’t notice Oliver sneaking them through a door.

When she realized, they were no longer outside, she snuggled closer to him, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulder. He leaned them on the wall and sighed.

‘What is this place?’ she asked.

‘Felicity,’ he looked down with a huge grin on his face. ‘We’re the luckiest motherfuckers tonight.’

‘Why? What happened?’

‘This is Tommy’s store and luckily for us, somebody forgot to lock the door.’ He chuckled.

‘Why are you laughing?!’ she slapped his chest slightly. ‘We could’ve been outed!’

‘But we weren’t.’ he lowered himself and kissed her lips.

She was about to pull away, but instead her traitorous body decided to melt into his arms.

‘Well,’ he spoke after they broke apart. ‘I guess we’re stuck here for a while.’

‘I guess so, yeah.’ She sat on the floor and he followed.

She put her head on his shoulder and tangled their fingers and legs.

‘This was such a crazy experience.’ He spoke.

‘Craziest in my life.’ She giggled.

‘But it was fun.’ He added.

‘Yeah.’

A comfortable silence stretched between them, before he spoke again.

‘Can I say something strange?’ he asked.

She closed her eyes and smiled, waiting for him to talk.

‘I’m happy.’

She felt her grin growing wider and wider, till her cheeks hurt.

_So was she._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter! ^_^ If you did, feel free to give me a kudo, and leave me comments saying what you thought.  
> BIG THINGS will happen next time! Stay tuned! *wink*


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! As promised, Chapter 5 is here on Friday! Yay! ^_^  
> BIG THINGS happen.

Felicity found the keys in her purse and walked into her parents’ house.

‘Oh, baby!’ her mother greeted her and wrapped her in a hug.

‘Hey, Mom.’ Felicity smiled.

‘I wasn’t expecting you!’ Donna exclaimed and stepped to the side, so that Felicity could walk in.

‘Yeah, I know.’ Felicity said and put the bouquet of lilies in a vase. ‘I was near and decided to stop by.’

‘And what’s with the flowers?’ her mother asked.

‘No reason.’

‘Aha.’

Felicity sat on a stool by the kitchen counter and started talking about work, while Donna prepared coffee for the two of them.

‘… And then Evan got angry and stormed out of the room.’ Felicity finished her story at the same time Donna was done with making the coffee.

‘Well, baby,’ Donna placed a mug in front of Felicity and herself and poured the delicious liquid. ‘I think that Evan has no right to be mad at you. If he wanted some kind of promotion, he should’ve worked harder.’

‘I know!’ Felicity agreed, as she took a sip of her coffee. ‘I mean, I’ve been working really hard to get here and I’m the best in the department. Of course, they’re gonna make ME the head of the Applied Science department.’

‘Exactly!’ her mother nodded. ‘How’s Barry?’

‘He’s fine, Mom.’

‘He still with this Patty girl or…?’

‘Oh my God, Mom? Really?’ Felicity rolled her eyes.

‘What?’

‘Are you honestly THAT desperate, that you’re trying to set me up with my best friend?’

‘I’m not trying to do anything, Felicity, I just asked a simple question… But… Now that you’ve mentioned it…’

_Oh, no!_

Felicity was trying to mentally prepare herself for what was about to come next. Her mother was going to talk about her friend Rita’s son- Jackson, who was a photographer for National Geographic and just got back from Alaska, or about Jacob, Liana’s nephew, who was newly single.

For the thousandth time, Felicity didn’t understand why it was so important to her parents to find her a boyfriend. It wasn’t their job and it was none of their business. Plus, she had Oliver.

‘I went to meet your father yesterday for lunch,’ Donna continued. ‘And I met Ray. Felicity, he’s extremely handsome and he’s VERY smart. You’re gonna like him so much.’

‘I’m not, Mom.’

‘Why? How can you be so sure?’ Donna started getting visibly frustrated.

‘Mom, pleas-’

‘How can you know he’s not the one? Why don’t you want to give him a chance? He’s a very nice guy, Felicity. Why do you keep avoiding love? Why are you so scared of love?’

‘I’m not, it’s just-’

‘How are you going to meet the love of your life, if you keep avoiding things like that? How are you going to meet THE ONE?’ Donna kept on pushing.

‘Because I’ve met him, Mom!’ Felicity almost shouted, causing her mother to shut up immediately.

_Frack!_

‘You’ve met him?’ Donna asked incredulously.

_Frack!_

‘You have a boyfriend?’

_Frack, frack, frackidy, frack!_

‘Felicity! Tell me!’ her mother insisted.

‘I… No! I mean… There’s nothing to tell. Hey! I heard about dad’s team qualifying for The Super Bowl! Congratulations!’ Felicity started. ‘Also, I saw the new jerseys. I love them! They’re so much better than the previous ones. The colors are more screaming but-’

‘Felicity Megan Smoak!’ her mother interrupted her. ‘Don’t change the subject! Do you have a boyfriend you haven’t told me about?’

Felicity’s head dropped down and she exhaled loudly, trying to calm down her heart. She was trying to think what her options were.

Option 1, she could lie. She could tell her mother that she didn’t have a boyfriend. She could say she liked someone that didn’t like her back. But in that case, her mother would INSIST that Felicity went out with Ray.

Or… she could tell her mother the truth. She could say she’s in a relationship and that the guy is the best.

‘Felicity…’ her mother grabbed her hand. ‘You can tell me, baby!’

‘It’s… It’s not that simple.’

‘What’s the problem?’

‘It’s… I can’t exactly… Ugh… Dad… Damn it!’ Felicity buried her face in her hands and tried to calm down her anxiety.

Because she was getting really anxious! Who wouldn’t in her situation, though? She was dating the last person her father wanted her to. And she was in love with him! Yes… Felicity loved Oliver. More than she’d ever loved any other man. And she was getting angry because, of course, _just her luck_ , her father had to hate him more than anything. She loved her father very much, but she also loved Oliver. Felicity pressed her hands to her face and groaned.

She should’ve known this would happen! She should’ve seen it coming! For a smart person, she had made a really stupid decision. She shouldn’t have gone out with Oliver. She should’ve stood her ground and walked away that day in the library. Starting this relationship with him was wrong…

Yet, everything felt so right with him. With him, everything made sense. Thanks to him, she was laughing harder than ever, and crying less about things. He helped her in ways he probably didn’t understand himself. She could have the worst day at work, but the moment she lied on her couch wrapped in his arms, suddenly everything would be better again.

Felicity let out a shaky breath and lifted her head.

If the right thing to do was to leave Oliver… she’d rather be wrong.

‘I am seeing someone, mom.’

Donna smiled brightly and squeaked. ‘Oh, baby!’ She went and hugged her daughter tightly. ‘What’s his name?’

‘I… I can’t tell you that…’ Felicity bit her lip. ‘Not right now.’

Her mother looked at her suspiciously. ‘Why not?’

‘Well, Mom, here’s the thing.’ Felicity took a deep breath. ‘He’s someone that Dad would never like.’

Donna’s eyebrows raised and she blinked rapidly. ‘O-Okay… Is he a drug dealer? Or an ex-prisoner? Or-’

‘No, Mom, none of that.’ Felicity shook her head. ‘He’s a great guy, actually… You’d love him so much.’

Donna smiled. ‘What’s he like?’

‘Well,’ Felicity smiled too. ‘He’s very handsome. And people think he’s stupid but he’s not. He’s kind and funny. Well, sometimes.’ She chuckled. ‘Sometimes he’s broody and grumpy, but he’s still adorable.’

Donna sighed. ‘Is he… good in bed?’

‘Oh, God! Mom!’ Felicity made a disgusted face. ‘I’m not gonna talk about… _that_ … with you.’ 

‘Okay, okay, sorry!’ her mother shrugged. ‘Does he play sports?’

‘Well….’

‘I’m thinking if he can play football, maybe we could invite him over so that he could bond with your father over football. You know this is the key to you Dad’s heart.’

Felicity smiled sadly. _If only her mother knew_ ….

‘He… he does play football. But… that’s not gonna help this time.’

‘Why not?’

‘It’s… complicated.’

‘In what way?’

‘Well, they… I just know that football won’t really help.’

Felicity was looking as different emotions crossed her mother’s face. From confusion to happiness to question. For a second, Felicity thought she saw a flash of knowledge, as if her mother had figured it out, but she was sure she had imagined it.

‘Here’s what we’re gonna do…’ her mother walked around the counter and stood in front of Felicity’s stool. ‘You… are gonna invite us to dinner. We’ll all talk it through. They’ll have to bond… For you. Because they both love you.’

‘Ugh,’ Felicity chuckled. ‘How can you be sure that Ol-’ she coughed loudly to stop herself. ‘That he loves me? You haven’t even met him.’

‘Well,’ Donna smiled and took Felicity’s hands in hers. ‘He must be a fool if he doesn’t. And you already said he’s a smart guy. So that means he loves you.’

Felicity laughed. ‘That’s some strong logic there, Mom.’

Her mother grinned and hugged Felicity tightly.

Felicity smiled at herself, as she wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist. She exhaled and looked up to the ceiling, sending a silent prayer that this whole mess would eventually work out.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Oliver was leaning down in front of the oven to check on the pie he was baking, while Felicity was setting the table.

He turned around to look at her and smiled.

In his life, he’d seen A LOT of the pretty girls, but none of them stood a chance next to Felicity. She was wearing a tight green dress and golden heels, while her hair was in a perfect ponytail.

Last week, she’d told him that she had invited her parents over, so that they could meet her boyfriend. At first, he had been scared of what might happen between him and her father, then he had calmed down, because they were adults and what happened on the field, had nothing to do with their personal lives.

Now, he was feeling nervous again, so he quickly rubbed his hands on the side of his thighs. He had promised himself he’d control his emotions, and that he wouldn’t be rude to Damien. He had bought flowers for Felicity’s mom, and from what he’d heard about her, he was almost 100% sure she’d like him.

Felicity had made him promise not to talk about football to avoid unnecessary arguments. Then, they’d eat. That’s when he’d get to know her parents, and vice versa.

‘You okay?’

Felicity’s voice interrupted his inner thoughts and he focused on her face again.

‘If…’ she started walking towards him. ‘If you’re not ready, I can cancel.’

‘No.’ he shook his head slightly, and wrapped his hands around her waist, when she reached him. ‘Let’s get it over with.’

She lifted herself and placed a kiss on his cheek, making him smile.

‘It’s just…’ he took a deep breath. ‘How are _YOU_ feeling about it?’

‘I’m not gonna lie. I’m pretty nervous.’ She bit her lip. ‘But… You don’t know each other personally. You only know him as a coach and he knows you as a player. I think that if you get to know each other as people, you might even get along just fine. You’re actually very alike.’

‘Yeah?’ he asked.

‘Yeah.’ She smiled at him. ‘You both have the worst temper ever. You both think you’re so cool and badass, while in reality you’re like puppies.’

‘Hey!’ he exclaimed.

‘You both care a lot about your teams and families.’ She continued. ‘Just like you, he likes Keeping up with the Kardashians AND just like you, he likes Khloe the most.’

Oliver chuckled and then met her eyes, as she was smiling up at him.

‘I can think of another thing we have in common.’ He told her softly.

‘What is it?’ she hugged his waist.

‘There is one thing we both… _love_ very much.’

Oliver felt her stiffen, while her grip around him tightened. She looked at him wide-eyed, with a slightly opened mouth. She knew what he wanted to tell her.

‘Wh-What is that?’

Oliver had never felt this way about anyone, so he hadn’t said the words before. But he was more than ready to tell them to her. She had become his light, his purpose, his dream. She had supported and sheltered him, when he had needed it. He wanted to say the words to her. He wanted to give her the world. She was his always, and he wanted the chance to be hers.

Just as he opened his mouth to tell her he loved her, the doorbell rang. Felicity unwrapped her arms from his waist and straightened her dress.

‘Well,’ she muttered. ‘They sure have the worst timing ever.’

She walked up to the door, as he followed her, slightly behind.

‘Ready?’ she asked.

‘Are you asking me, or yourself?’ he tried joking.

‘Both.’

She let out a deep breath and opened the door.

‘Hiiiii!’

Oliver heard the unfamiliar female voice, followed by a slim blonde woman entering the apartment. She was wearing a dress, tighter than Felicity’s, and heels that looked extremely uncomfortable. Oliver smiled, because Donna Smoak was just like Felicity had described her.

‘Where’s Dad?’ Felicity asked.

‘Oh,’ Donna waved her hand. ‘He decided to take the stairs. Now where’s this hunk of yours?’

Just as she said the words, she turned her head to the side and saw Oliver standing there. She stopped in her tracks, as her eyes widened A LOT, and her mouth dropped. Oliver smiled nervously and rubbed his fingers together.

All of a sudden, Felicity’s mom shook her head and returned his smile. ‘Hi! I’m Donna, Felicity’s mom.’

‘I’m Oliver Queen. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’ He shook her hand, and when he let go, he reached and grabbed the flowers he’d bought. ‘These are for you.’

‘Oh, thank you so much!’ she inhaled their scent. ‘I love Frangipanis. How did you know?’

‘I had nothing to do with it, I swear!’ Felicity raised her hands. ‘I didn’t even know he was going to buy flowers.’

‘I googled ‘10 best smelling flowers’ and these came up.’ Oliver admitted.

Donna started laughing, and Felicity smiled at him.

‘I love them, thank you very much!’

‘You’re welcome.’ He nodded.

‘Ugh! It smells delicious in here!’ Donna exclaimed. ‘Did you cook, Oliver?’

‘Hey!’ Felicity said. ‘Why didn’t you ask me if I had cooked?’

‘Oh, honey, I love you so much.’ Donna kissed Felicity’s cheek. ‘But we both know you can’t cook.’

Oliver chuckled and Felicity smacked his arm lightly.

‘Well, I got it from my Momma!’ Felicity arched her eyebrow at her mother.

‘Yes, ma’am. I’m the master chef behind these.’ Oliver answered.

‘I like you already, Oliver.’ Her mother said, making him smile brightly. ‘And please call me Donna.’

‘Okay.’

The door opened and Oliver shivered when he heard the familiar voice.

‘Felicity! I’m here!’ Damien called.

Felicity took a deep breath and nodded. ‘Right. We’re in the living room.’ She called.

Everyone was on their feet, waiting for his arrival.

‘Ugh,’ Damien walked in, with his back to the room, still looking at the hall. ‘Felicity, you need to put some more lights. It’s such a dark hallway, I almost hit my head in the-’

His words stopped when he turned around and met Oliver’s eyes. His face remained clear of expression, while he blinked fast a couple of times, as if he was making sure he was seeing correct. Oliver stood up straight- he was not going to show Damien his nervousness.

Damien’s eyes moved to Felicity and he raised his eyebrows. ‘Your mother told me we were going to meet your boyfriend tonight… So, where is he?’

Oliver fisted his arms at his remark and saw Damien’s eyes fall on his hands. The other man huffed and shook his head. Oliver relaxed immediately, because he didn’t want to seem aggressive, and he’d hate it if they thought he was mistreating Felicity in any way.

‘Dad,’ Felicity spoke in a low voice, as if she was warning him to be careful with what he says. ‘Oliver _IS_ my boyfriend.’

‘Aha.’

Everyone stood quiet and the air was filled with tension and awkwardness. Oliver shifted on his feet a little and met Donna’s gaze. She took a deep breath and nodded at him, with a small smile on her face. Oliver returned it, and mouthed ‘Thank you’, because he realized she was silently supporting him, and that small gesture made him happy. Well, at least he won over her.

‘As I was saying,’ Damien started talking again. ‘You need to put some more lights in the hallway.’

‘Dad,’ Felicity turned to him. ‘The lights are just fine.’

‘Well,’ Damien took a deep breath and sat on her couch. ‘I’m not even gonna argue about it. You _CLEARLY_ have a wrong perspective on what’s good and bad for you.’

Oliver pursed his lips, because he understood exactly what Damien was talking about. It wasn’t just Felicity’s lights. It was about the fact that she was dating him.

‘Damien!’ Donna exclaimed and sat on the couch next to him.

Felicity walked up to Oliver and pulled him by the arm. She pushed him down on one of the armchairs and sat on its’ arm.

‘If it makes you feel better,’ she whispered to him. ‘Think about how many times we’ve had sex on the same spot he’s currently sitting.’

Oliver grinned and looked up at her, as she gave him a quick wink.

‘So,’ Donna started. ‘Tonight we have some things to discuss, I believe. We’re all gathered here to talk abo-’

‘Oh, Donna, please.’ Damien waved his hand. ‘Don’t talk as if we’re some addicts at a meeting. We’re all adults here, we’re fine.’

Oliver looked at him suspiciously and squeezed Felicity’s hand.

An awkward silence followed before Donna broke it again.

‘It’s not fine, honey. You’re right- we’re adults. That’s why we need to talk and clear the air.’

‘I don’t have anything to say.’ Damien looked at Oliver. ‘Do you?’

Oliver clenched his jaw as he was staring at the other man. He wanted to tell him a lot of things.

Before he started playing professionally, Oliver was a fan of Damien Darhk. Then Oliver was signed to his first professional club, and had become better and better. Damien had always been rude towards him, and it was something Oliver never understood. At first, he had been upset, but then he’d learnt not to care about it. That’s the moment he had started insulting Damien, as well, and things had gone badly from then.

Oliver wanted to know why Damien hated him in the first place. He wanted to ask him a lot of things and he wanted answers.

However, Oliver decided that would seem weak, and he didn’t want Damien to think he was gonna kiss his ass. He loved Felicity, yes, but he had his pride, and he wasn’t gonna beg for Damien’s approval on anything.

‘Nothing.’ Oliver spoke slowly.

‘I guess we’re good then, a?’ Damien clapped his hands.

‘Damien!’ Donna turned to him. ‘Look, here’s what I suggest. We don’t talk about football from now on, okay? We’re not our professions. Oliver, tonight you’re not a football player, and you, honey, are not a coach. Tonight we’re just a family, gathered to get to know their _ONLY_ daughter’s boyfriend. Okay?’

Damien didn’t look at his wife and just stared at Oliver.

‘Okay?’ Donna repeated.

‘Okay.’ Damien let out a heavy sight and rolled his eyes. ‘Can we eat now? I’m really hungry.’

‘Yes. We can.’ Felicity smiled, clearly happy with the decision. ‘I’ll start bringing the food here.’

‘And I…’ her mother stood up. ‘Will help you.’

The two women walked out of the room, leaving Oliver alone with Damien. Their eyes met and Damien gave him a smile with narrowed eyes.

Oliver stiffened. It was not a happy and genuine smile, and Oliver mentally prepared himself for what was going to happen.

It was going to be a fun night…

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Felicity’s hands were shaking as she walked in the kitchen.

‘Well, that was… weird.’ She turned to talk to her mother.

‘It… it was, yes.’ Donna agreed.

‘Are you mad?’ Felicity asked and bit her lip.

‘About what?’

‘That it’s him? Or that I didn’t tell you?’

‘Baby!’ Donna hugged her. ‘I’m not mad about anything. You’re so smart, and you value yourself so much, so I trusted your decision. I knew you wouldn’t find yourself a bad man that mistreats you, and I was right. Honestly, I’m just happy for you. He does seem nice, and the way he looks at you… That’s all I ever wanted for you.’

‘Thank you.’ Felicity smiled and blinked away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. ‘I’m still so scared about what will happen.’

‘Why?’

‘Well, him and Dad, they’re… I don’t think they can forget and forgive it all.’

‘Look, Felicity. They’re not. If you’re expecting them to be best buddies today, let me tell you- it’s not gonna happen. They need time. They need to adjust to the situation and it’s not gonna be easy. It might take days, weeks, months, hell, it might take years…’

Felicity swallowed.

‘But…’ her mother continued. ‘It’ll work out fine in the end. No matter long it takes, these two will end up liking each other, I promise you.’

‘Thanks, Mom.’ Felicity smiled and wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck.

‘In fact,’ Donna said as she pulled back took a couple of plates. ‘I have a good feeling about tonight.’

Just as Felicity was about to chuckle, there was a loud noise coming from the living room. Felicity saw her mother going pale, as the two of them ran to the room, and gasped.

Oliver was holding Damien pressed to the wall by the collar and the two of them were staring angrily at each other.

‘Oliver!’ Felicity shouted.

She ran to Oliver and started pulling him. ‘Let him go!’

Oliver was holding onto her father, and he looked like he didn’t even hear her.

‘OLIVER!’

His eyes moved to her and she shivered. She had never seen him this angry in her life. His eyes were so filled with hatred that it made her gasp. She was not used to seeing him like this. This was not her Oliver. This was someone else.

‘Let him go, Oliver!’ she repeated and he finally obliged.

He took a few steps back and Felicity placed her hand on his cheek, trying to bring him back to her. He closed his eyes.

‘Oliver, please… Please, look at me.’

He finally looked at her. She was hoping she’d see the love in his eyes, but all she saw was more anger and spite. He was looking at her with all the hatred he had for her father. She felt her eyes tearing up.

‘What did you say to him?’ she turned and shouted at her father.

‘Hey!’ he chuckled. ‘Don’t blame me for his anger-issues.’

‘Damien!’ Donna shouted. ‘You promised!’

‘What did you say to him?’ Felicity yelled and turned around, facing her father, her back pressed to Oliver’s front.

‘It’s not my fault he can’t contain his emotions, Felicity.’

‘You son of a-’ Oliver yelled and started moving towards Damien again.

‘HEY!’ Felicity shouted again and stood in the middle. ‘Stop, please, Oliver!’

‘I’m honestly so pissed at you right now!’ Donna walked closer to them.

‘Why?’ Damien shouted.

‘Because…’ Donna yelled back. ‘Oliver looked willing to try. He wouldn’t have gotten angry if you hadn’t done or said anything.’

‘It’s his fault that he’s still a child in a man’s body. He needs to grow up.’

‘Shut your fucking mouth.’ Oliver growled through gritted teeth, and started walking towards him.

‘Oliver!’ Felicity tried pushing him away. ‘Please, calm down.’

‘Okay! That’s it!’ Donna shouted. ‘That talk I suggested… It needs to happen now!’

‘I’m not gonna talk about anything.’ her father crossed his arms.

‘Oh, yes, you are!’ Donna nodded.

‘I have nothing to say to him. He’s acting like a caveman and-’

‘Oh, really?’ Oliver yelled. ‘That’s what happens when you talk shit about my family!’

Felicity wiped her eyes and looked at her father. ‘How could you?’

‘Well, I’m sorry but it’s not my fault he can’t handle the truth. Maybe all the drugs and alcohol he’s taken in his life are finally having an effect on his brain as well.’

‘DAD!’

‘DAMIEN!’

Felicity looked as her father smiled and shook her head in disbelief.

Suddenly, Oliver was no longer struggling to get closer to her father. He dropped his hands to the side and quietly observed everything. He looked relaxed, but Felicity knew him better. She saw the angry flames still dancing in his eyes, along with pain, and disappointment.

‘Look at him!’ Damien continued. ‘Can’t even stand up for himself without getting physical. You’re a pussy, Queen!’

‘DAD!’

‘Just like your father.’

Suddenly, Oliver walked around Felicity and punched her father in the face. He once again grabbed his collar and pushed him to the wall.

‘OLIVER!’ both women shouted and Felicity ran to break them apart.

‘Please, Oliver… Stop!’ she tried pulling him away from her father.

‘Is this the kind of man you want, Felicity?’ her father said through gritted teeth. ‘Every time he gets angry, you’ll be in my place.’

‘He would never!’ Felicity shouted, still trying to pull Oliver, unsuccessfully.

‘You know he doesn’t love you, right? He’s only dating you, because he wants to piss me off!’ Damien was still talking to her.

‘Shut up!’ Oliver pushed him more to the wall.

‘I would never let my daughter be with a man like you! NEVER! Do you hear me? I want you to leave my daughter alone!’

Felicity could barely see anything through her teary eyes. The only thing she wanted was for her parents to be gone, so that she could just wrap her hands around Oliver and hold him in her arms, till he was feeling better.

‘Gladly.’ Oliver said.

Felicity’s eyes widened and suddenly all her strength left her. _What was he saying?_  

‘I’m done here.’ He said and let go of her father.

He grabbed his jacket and walked to the front door. Felicity started panicking. She wasn’t ready for this to be done.

‘Oliver!’ she yelled and followed him out of her apartment. ‘Oliver, wait!’

He stopped and slowly turned around.

‘I’m so sorry, Oliver!’ she walked towards him. ‘I’ll just tell them to go.’

‘No, Felicit-’

‘Yes!’ she took his hands and tangled their fingers. ‘You can come back, and we can eat and watch a movie.’

‘Felicity, we’re done.’ He didn’t look in her eyes, as he said that.

‘Are… Are you breaking up with me?’ her eyes watered again.

‘I’m so sorry…’ His eyes finally met hers. ‘I thought that we could have it all. I wanted this to work… But you were right. It was never going to survive, given these circumstances.’

‘No, Oliver! I was wrong!’ she pleaded. ‘Please, please, please come back. We’ll talk and…’

‘I’m not gonna talk to him, Felicity! Never…’ Oliver slipped his hands out of hers. ‘I’ve gotta go.’

‘I don’t wanna let you go.’ She said quietly, with the last strength she had, hoping he heard her.

‘I don’t wanna let you go.’ He repeated. ‘But I’m already gone.’

Felicity watched him as he went down the stairs. There was nothing stopping her tears now. She got back into her apartment and slowly walked to the living room. Her parents were sitting on the couch. Her mother had her face buried in her hands, while she was shaking her head. Her father was sitting quietly.

When they heard her, they both turned around and stood up. The three of them stared at each other, neither knowing what to say.

‘Felicity-’ her father, took a step towards her but she placed her hand in front of herself, silently telling him to stop.

‘I want you to leave.’ She whispered.

‘Felicity, I’m so-’ he tried again.

‘OUT!’ she shouted.

She was trying to control her breathing and she didn’t want to snap or fall apart in front of them.

Her parents looked at each other and slowly walked around her.

‘Felicity,’ her mother started. ‘Do you want me to stay?’

‘No. Thank you.’

When she made sure her parents were gone, she walked to her kitchen. She saw all the food standing there, ready to be eaten. She remembered the way Oliver had prepared everything. How careful he had been not to overcook anything and to put the right amount of ingredients. She remembered the concentration on his face while he was cutting the vegetables, and the smile he had given her when she had joked about everything. She remembered him walking towards her and giving her a sweet kiss. She remembered how he had tried to make everything perfect for her parents.

It was over now. They were over. All of his preparations had gone to waste. She wasn’t hungry and even if she was, she wasn’t going to eat all that food without the man who had prepared it with so much love and hope. That man who was about to confess his love for her, before being interrupted by her parents.

She missed him badly but he was gone.

Felicity started crying as she grabbed her phone and sent a quick message to Barry, telling him what had happened.

She walked to her bedroom and changed into pajamas. She wiped her makeup off, grabbed a blanket and went to her hallway. She sat down on the cold floor as tears streamed down her face.

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there, but after a while there was a ring on her doorbell. She got up slowly, not wondering who it could be. She didn’t even bother to peek through the hole. There could be a robber, or a murderer outside… But she didn’t care.

‘Hey.’

Felicity opened the door and saw Barry’s concerned face.

‘Barry.’ She whispered and sniffled loudly. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I got your text, and thought you could use a friend.’ He walked in and pulled her in for a hug.

That boy! The fact that he thought about her wellbeing, and the fact that he had travelled from the other part of town, made Felicity cry even harder.

She might not have Oliver, or her parents right now, but she still had the Best best friend in the whole world.

‘Thank you, Barry.’ She cried against his neck.

‘I’m so sorry, Felicity.’ He whispered in her hair. ‘I know how much you liked him.’

They pulled away and slowly walked to her bedroom. She lied on one side and after he switched the lights, he lied behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

Felicity knew a lot of people found their close friendship weird, but they’ve been friends their whole life and they were used to each other. Barry knew her, all of her, better than almost anyone. The only person that knew her better than Barry, in every way possible, was Oliver…

But he was gone. And he didn’t want her anymore, thanks to her father.

‘I’m sorry.’ Barry whispered. 

‘For what exactly?’ she asked, as the tears were still coming down.

‘For everything. I love your father, you know I do, but he is a jerk for doing that.’

‘He is…’ Felicity agreed.

‘Why don’t you call Oliver?’

‘He said we need to let each other go, because he doesn’t think we will work out.’

‘You know he doesn’t mean that!’ Barry squeezed her. ‘He said it because he was angry… Why was he angry by the way?’

‘Dad said something about his family.’ Felicity closed her eyes.

‘Oh, wow… That’s low…’

‘It is…’

‘And Oliver, what? Punched him?’ Barry asked incredulously.

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll admit, your father was wrong to mention his family, but Oliver should’ve controlled himself.’

‘He should have…’

‘I’m sorry… I’m not really helping you feel better.’ He shifted behind her and put a blanket over them.

‘You know what, Felicity?’ he spoke again.

‘What?’

‘It’s always _Darhker_ before the dawn. Darhker… Get it?’ he chuckled. ‘Because your father is Darhk… Never mind.’

Felicity couldn’t help the chuckle, even though her eyes were still wet.

‘What I meant is that it does look kind of hopeless now, but… With some luck, it’ll be fine in the end.’

Felicity was quiet for a while.

‘Are you asleep?’ Barry whispered.

‘No.’ she answered.

They lied silently on her bed, as they were both tired.

‘Barry?’ Felicity whispered after a while.

‘Mhm?’ her friend answered.

‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome, Felicity.’

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Oliver stood in his car on the opposite side of her building, giving him the perfect view to the entrance. Anger was rushing through his veins like never before and he didn’t know what to do.

He couldn’t drive like this. He couldn’t think straight.

He ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to calm down, but it didn’t help.

Five minutes after he left the building, he saw Donna and Damien leaving as well. Donna was walking ahead of him, while he was talking. All of a sudden, she stopped walking. Oliver saw her speaking too, as she slowly walked to Damien and when she reached him, she poked his chest with her index fingers.

Oliver looked away, because seeing that action made him think of Felicity, and how she used to do the same thing to him.

 _His Felicity_ … was no longer his.

That thought cut him like a knife, and he took a deep breath.

He should’ve stayed and listened to Donna- they should’ve had that talk. He should’ve asked all these questions that had been bugging him for years. He should’ve controlled himself better.

He looked up and saw their car driving away.

How could he be so stupid? How on Earth did it even cross his mind that he was ready to let Felicity go?

She was the best thing in his life!

He smacked the steering wheel.

‘Fuck…’ he whispered, and leaned his head against it.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, but after a while he had made up his mind to go and beg her to take him back. It was still fresh. Hopefully, she could forgive him.

She had to. Because he couldn’t go on living without her, now that he’d had her once.

Oliver opened his door and just as he was about to get out he saw something that made him stop.

Barry Allen got out of a cab and walked to the entrance of her building.

 _What the fuck?!_ Had she called him?

Oliver felt his insides burning. The need to punch him, increased the moment he walked in the building, closing the door behind him.

Even though Felicity had told Oliver they were just friends, there was something about Allen that Oliver just couldn’t trust. Maybe he liked her and was dating this Patty girl, while Felicity was in a relationship as well. And Felicity was single, and this Kid was here…

Oliver closed his door and waited. He was looking at her bedroom window.

All he could think about was whether she was going to sleep with Allen. _No… She couldn’t… She loved Oliver. Allen was just a friend… She couldn’t…_ Oliver rubbed his eyes, as he was taking slow breaths. 

‘Please…’ he whispered. ‘Please, don’t…’

And then he saw the other guy walking to the window. Oliver knew perfectly well, there was a switch for the lights there.

His heart clenched when suddenly, her room was dark. Allen had turned down the lights to her bedroom…

Oliver’s chest started rising and falling faster, as a new wave of anger washed through his body. The fire was burning his heart, and stomach, and brain, and he couldn’t think straight.

All he wanted to do was walk back to her apartment, beat the shit out of that Allen Kid and fuck Felicity right in front of him, till the only thing she knew was his name. He wanted to claim her, to show everyone that she was his and he was hers. He had never been so possessive in his life, he was used to sharing things with people.

But he could NEVER share her with anyone.

Suddenly, he remember that she was no longer his to claim or show off. He had ended things, he had pushed her away. It was all his mess. _And boy_ … had she forgotten about him already…

Oliver could no longer take it, so he started the car. He started driving through the dark night, not stopping even when the tears were pricking his eyes. 

He had lost Felicity. This mess was his and no one else’s and now he had to live with these consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that happened. *sweats*  
> I'm sorry, but with all the fluff, it was time for some angst.   
> Also, even BIGGER THINGS happen next time! Hope you'll stick around and read!  
> Tell me your thoughts and if you liked this, leave me kudos! ^_^  
> See you next week.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys!  
> I'm so happy with the response from the previous chapter! Thank you so much for reading this story! <3  
> Here's Ch. 6! Something happens in the end. Fingers crossed, you'll surprised!  
> All mistakes are mine!  
> Happy reading ^_^

A month had passed since that eventful night at Felicity’s apartment and Oliver still couldn’t fully shake himself out of it. He had been on the verge of calling her but every time he had picked up the phone, he remembered Barry Allen turning off the lights to her bedroom, and he’d stopped himself.

The fact that she hadn’t called too, wasn’t really helping him get better either.

Maybe if he went over to her place, she’d agree to talk with him, or he could go to her desk at Queen Consolidated and-

‘Yo!’

Oliver’s thoughts were interrupted by Thea, throwing a ball at him, hitting him straight in the cheek.

‘FUCK, THEA!’ he yelled and threw the ball back.

She quickly twisted her body and the ball passed her not touching her the slightest.

‘Are you hurt?’ she asked, when she approached him.

‘Yes! I am! You don’t throw the ball at someone who’s _clearly_ not watching!’ he spit out.

‘Hey, man!’ John joined. ‘We’re all playing basketball here, in case you haven’t noticed.’

‘How could he?’ Tommy took off his sweaty shirt. ‘He’s too busy living in his fantasy world, where he and Felicity already have babies with glasses and a six-pack-’

‘Tommy!’ Digg stopped him. ‘Don’t talk about her, man.’

‘Yeah, Tommy!’ Thea smacked his forearm. ‘He’s very fragile right now, in case you haven’t noticed-’

‘Look, guys.’ Oliver shook his head. ‘She’s not Voldemort. I’m fine.’

‘Mhm…’ Thea nodded slowly.

Oliver took the ball and started dribbling, before throwing it and scoring. He dribbled it a couple of times again, and when he saw that his friends were just sitting there, looking at him, and sneaking looks at each other, he stopped.

‘C’mon, guys!’ he urged. ‘Are we gonna play or what?’

‘Why don’t we take a break?’ John suggested.

Oliver stood still while all of his friends left the small basketball court and reached for their bottles.

‘C’mon, man.’ Digg called him. ‘Come here.’

Oliver sighed and walked out as well. He sat on the bench and waited for ‘the break’ to be over. He couldn’t not notice Thea mouthing something to Digg, and Digg giving her a stern look. Tommy just shook his head and mouthed something to Thea, to which she just shrugged.

‘Okay…’ Oliver spoke suddenly, after he’d had enough. ‘What?’

‘What what?’ Tommy asked.

‘I’m not blind, Tommy! I can actually see you.’

‘See what?’ Thea asked just as innocently.

‘See everything!’ Oliver answered. ‘All these little… interactions, trying to communicate behind my back with signs and shit…’

They gave each other a look, before Oliver spoke again.

‘So… What is it that you want to say?’

‘We…’ Thea started and looked at John, who just crossed his arms and exhaled loudly. ‘We think that you should speak with her.’

Oliver rolled his eyes.

‘Look, buddy,’ Tommy continued. ‘We know how much she meant… _means_ to you. She made you really happy and now that she’s gone, you’re back to black. And we can’t stand seeing you like this.’

‘What do you mean I’m back to black? I’m fine.’ Oliver furrowed his eyebrows. ‘I go out clubbing with you twice a week, I go to trainings, I spend time with you… What more do you want?’

‘Yeah, Ollie, you do all these things,’ Tommy nodded. ‘But you’re… you know.’

‘No?’

‘What Tommy is trying to say is…’ Digg interrupted. ‘It’s not too late.’

‘But it is, Digg.’ Oliver argued. ‘It is too late. I blew it up, she moved on. End of story.’

‘I still don’t believe she spent the night with that Allen Kid.’ John took a sip of his water.

‘Yeah, well, I saw it with my own eyes.’

‘God, Ollie,’ Tommy rolled his eyes. ‘He just turned down the lights.’

‘What do you think happened after that, Tommy? Huh?’ Oliver yelled. ‘He sure as hell didn’t read her a bedtime story!’

Everyone fell silent and Oliver rubbed his eyes and let out a heavy breath.

‘Look, I’m sorry.’ He apologized. ‘I just… I’ve come to realize, there isn’t a way we could fix this. And… you’re right. It is really, really hard for me to come to peace with that thought. But I have to. I can’t go on having all these feelings for her, while she’s out there living her life. I messed it up and now I gotta pay the price.’

‘It wasn’t your fault only.’ Digg patter his shoulder. ‘Damien pushed you.’

‘Yeah,’ Oliver let out a humorless chuckle. ‘But in the end, he’s her father. He’ll always be a part of her life. Me, on the other hand… I’m somebody who can easily be replaced. Had I controlled myself better, none of this would’ve happened.’

‘Don’t be so hard on yourself, big brother.’ Thea patted his shoulder. ‘I’m sure she’ll take you back if you just go and tell her how you feel.’

‘Thea, it’s… It’s so complicated.’ Oliver shook his head. ‘Even if we get together… Can you imagine family meetings or holidays? Or… _IF_ , if we get… married… how is the wedding going to go? And, say… we have children, it will be so hard. I mean, with my situation with Damien… None of these events will go smoothly, and God knows, I’m not letting my children around him… He’ll talk badly about me and my kids will hate me.’

Oliver stopped talking and was met by his friends’ amused eyes.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘Well,’ Digg chuckled. ‘The fact that you’re thinking about marriage and children with her says it all.’

‘I…’ Oliver furrowed his eyebrows, looking for the right words. ‘I was… talking… I was talking hypothetically.’

‘Sure, you were.’ Tommy grinned and winked.

‘I was!’

 ‘But you have thought about it.’ John remarked.

‘No…’ Oliver looked around. ‘I… No! Stop!’

‘Ollie, please…’ Thea took his hand. ‘Please, go and talk to her.’

Oliver really wanted to. He wanted to go and tell Felicity he was sorry and that he wanted to get back with her. For the first time in his life, Oliver wanted something so badly. When you have a girl like that, you wanna keep her around as long as possible. And the time he’d had with her wasn’t enough for him. He needed more. He needed her like the air he breathed. Too bad he had to let her go to realize it.

‘Can we, please, play some more?’ Oliver cleared his throat.

Thea let out a heavy breath, John just shrugged, and the four of them headed to the court again.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

‘Yeah, sure…’ Felicity spoke on the phone. ‘Of course… I understand… Yes… Yes… Well, I’m free any day of the week after 5 p.m. That’s when my day job is over… Yes… Um, let me check…’

She opened her calendar.

‘Wednesday… Um… No, I have a meeting that might take longer. How about Thursday?’ she bit her lip. ‘Yeah? Okay, great. See you then, then. Bye, Mr. Erickson.’

She hung up and stretched.

‘Heyyy, Felicity!’

She opened her eyes and saw Barry, leaning on her door frame and grinning from ear to ear.

‘What’s with the smile?’ she asked.

‘Nothing much.’ He walked in and sat on her couch. ‘I was at the police station.’

‘Good for you.’ Felicity winked.

‘You should try having sex with a police officer… It’s extremely fun and dangerous, especially if you’re at their office.’ Barry grinned.

‘Ew, Barry!’ Felicity made a disgusted face. ‘Shut up… Also, Patty’s not a police officer. She’s a detective.’

‘Whatever.’ Barry lied down on the couch. ‘You know, she has a new colleague… His name is Eddie, he’s tall and he looks like the type of guy you’d like.’

‘Barry,’ Felicity rolled her eyes. ‘Stop doing that!’

‘Doing what?’ Barry asked innocently.

‘That!’ Felicity pointed at him. ‘Trying to set me up with someone. You’re turning into my parents.’

‘Well, since you shut them out completely, somebody else had to take their place.’ Barry sat up. ‘Have you talked to them?’

‘I spoke a couple of times with Mom, but I haven’t heard from my father.’ She shrugged.

‘Shit, Felicity. I’m sorry.’ Barry winced. ‘Has he tried to contact you?’

‘Oh, yes!’ Felicity nodded. ‘He tried calling but I didn’t pick up.’

‘And…’ Barry cleared his throat. ‘Anything from Oliver?’

Felicity swallowed hard.

‘No.’ she said simply.

Barry was her best friend, yes, but still, she didn’t want to show him how much that hurt her. How much Oliver not calling her pained her. How she’d been crying herself to sleep almost every night.

No… She didn’t want Barry, nor anyone, to know any of that.

‘Why don’t you call him, then?’ Barry suggested.

‘Yeah, Barry… And say what?’ she furrowed her eyebrows. ‘I told him everything I wanted him to know. Oliver made his choice.’

‘We both know that was the wrong choice.’

‘Look, Oliver should be the one to say something…’ Felicity shook her head. ‘Also, weren’t you trying to set me up with someone else just 2 minutes ago?’

Barry chuckled, making Felicity smile.

‘By the way, this is not what I came for.’ He grinned.

‘Then why did you come?’ Felicity leaned on her elbows.

‘I…’ Barry put his hands in his pockets. ‘I have three VIP tickets and backstage passes for… the Super Bowl!’

He roared the last words, and Felicity winced.

‘Okay… Good for you, Barry.’ She nodded.

‘You’re coming with me.’ He smiled.

‘No, I’m not.’

‘Yes, you are.’

‘No, I’m not.’ Felicity repeated, raising her voice.

‘Yes, you are.’ Barry raised his voice as well.

‘First of all, I don’t want to go.’ Felicity started. ‘Second of all, if I wanted tickets, I could’ve easily gotten them from my mother. Third of all, I really don’t want to watch the game between my father’s and my ex-boyfriend’s teams. Fourth of all, I don’t want to look at my father’s face. Fifth of all, I don’t want to look at my ex’s face. Sixth of all-’

‘Felicity, stop.’ Barry interrupted her rambling.

Felicity stood up and walked to her window. She heard Barry walking slowly towards her and soon his arm was around her shoulder pulling her to him. She let him pull her closer, and leaned on his shoulder.

‘Barry, I don’t think I can do it.’ She said quietly after a short pause.

‘Of course you can. You’re one of the strongest people I know.’

‘No, I’m not.’ She sighed.

‘Felicity, pull yourself together!’ Barry grabbed her shoulders and shook her. ‘You. Are. Coming… Not coming as in… _coming_ … you know…’

‘I understand… Not as in… sex, _coming_ …’ Felicity started babbling with him. ‘Just coming… It sounds the same but…’

‘It’s totally different in my head… You understand what I meant by _coming_.’ Barry said finally.

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

‘I see why we’re friends.’ He said.

‘And _I_ finally understand why people don’t want to be around both of us at the same time.’ Felicity giggled.

‘Aaaanyway,’ Barry spoke. ‘I will pick you up, we’ll go to Big Belly, and we’re going to the game. Okay?’

Felicity smiled and nodded. ‘Fine.’ Suddenly, she winced. ‘Barry, I have a couple of questions.’

‘Okay?’

‘Firstly, who gave you those tickets? I mean, the game is tomorrow, it’s extremely hard to find anything available at this time. Also, you said ‘three tickets’. Patty’s working tomorrow night… So who’s the third person?’ she raised her eyebrow.

‘Oh, right!’ Barry smiled. ‘To answer both of your questions- your mother.’

‘What?’

‘Oh, come on, Felicity.’ Barry pleaded. ‘You know how much I love football, and as you said, tickets end pretty soon. I couldn’t find any, so I asked your mom.’

‘Ugh… Barry, you’re making me watch my father vs. my ex with my mother… The three people I’ve been trying to avoid for the past few weeks.’

‘I’m sorry… But it will be good for you.’ Barry took her hands in his. ‘Your mother is on your side, so don’t be mad at her.’

‘Okay, Barry… You’re right.’ Felicity sighed. ‘I will come… But dinner’s on you.’

‘Deal!’ Barry beamed. ‘I’m gonna head out now. See you tomorrow.’

He gave her a cheek kiss and walked out. Felicity watched him leave, thinking about the following night, both scared, and excited.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Oliver pushed the shopping cart around the islands, looking for the things he had been planning to buy. It was late and he should be asleep already. After all, the big game was tomorrow and he needed to be rested, as Slade had told them.

But little did Slade know, was Oliver hadn’t slept properly for about a month and tonight wasn’t going to be any different. Because in order for him to sleep well, he needed everything in his life to be good. And that wasn’t possible with his current situation with Felicity.

He was just _so tired_.

All he wanted was to have her back. Then he could sleep. Then he could rest. Then he cou-

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a thud. Oliver looked down and saw his cart crashed into another one. Just as he was apologizing, he looked up and went wide eyed.

‘Oliver!’ Donna exclaimed.

‘Hi!’ he said in a high-voice. He cleared his throat and spoke again. ‘How are you?’

‘I, um… Well,’ Donna shrugged. ‘Not too well for the past one month.’

Oliver’s heart clenched, and at that moment he realized that The Accident in Felicity’s apartment had affected not only him, but everyone involved. _Probably even Damien._

‘And you?’ she asked.

‘Same.’ He smiled weakly.

They stood silently for a second before Oliver decided to break the tension.

‘So, I, uh…’ he spoke. ‘What are you looking for?’

‘Nothing in particular, dear. Just random things.’ She chuckled, and he smiled at the way her dimples showed. _Just like Felicity’s_. ‘And you?’

‘Me too.’ He grinned.

‘Well, Oliver, why don’t we look for random things together?’ she suggested.

‘I…’ Oliver smiled. ‘I’d like that very much.’

Oliver started pushing his shopping cart with Donna and they engaged in small talk.

‘So, you ready for tomorrow?’ she asked him after a couple of minutes.

‘I don’t know.’ He shrugged. ‘I mean, I’ll do the same as always. I’ll give my best and hopefully, we’ll win.’

 ‘Even though my husband’s on the other team…’ Donna started. ‘I think I’ll be supporting yours this time.’

Oliver laughed from his heart. ‘Thanks. That means a lot.’

‘Yeah, well, I’m kind of mad at my husband at the moment.’ She answered. ‘I have been for a month. You know, Oliver, I feel like it’s all his fault.’

‘Not to sound rude…’ Oliver spoke. ‘But you’re right. It really is his fault.’

‘I’m sorry.’ She gave him a sympathetic smile.

‘You know the worst part of it? I don’t really care I had a fight with him.’ Oliver confessed. ‘I’ve fought with him before, verbally, yes… But still. What makes me angry, was the fact that this whole thing cost me Felicity.’

‘I know, honey.’ She patted his shoulder.

‘I know I’m not perfect and I should’ve ignored his comments. But if he hadn’t said anything, I…’ Oliver ran his fingers through his hair.

He shook his head. Maybe Donna wasn’t the best person to talk to about that, but she was here, and he really needed to get this frustration off his chest.

They walked quietly for a while before he spoke again.

‘I really miss her.’

‘She misses you, too.’ Donna told him.

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I saw her with Barry What’s-his-name and…’ Oliver answered.

‘But they’re best friends! He has a girlfriend.’ Donna explained.

‘I know, but…’

‘Felicity has NEVER liked Barry that way, honey!’ Donna exclaimed. ‘There is nothing more between them. In fact, Barry’s been trying to get Felicity to talk to you.’

Suddenly, Oliver liked the Kid a little bit more. _Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all_.

‘He will take Felicity to the game tomorrow. Well, we’ll be together, the three of us. But thanks to him. He wants you to get back together.’ Donna informed him. ‘Maybe… you could… talk to her?’

‘Yes... Maybe I could.’

They changed the topic and Donna started telling him stories about little Felicity. Listening to those, Oliver’s heart filled with so much joy and love. Yes, he wanted her back in his life. And he was going to do everything in his power to win her back.

‘I always knew her so well,’ Donna was speaking. ‘She thinks I’m stupid and well… I don’t understand her tech stuff and I don’t know all 53 states, and-’

Oliver pursed his lips, trying not to laugh.

‘…But I know her.’ Donna finished. ‘You know when I first found out she was in a relationship, she wasn’t going to tell me anything but I pushed her. She only said two words about her boyfriend, but I knew it was you.’

Oliver’s eyes widened as he looked at Donna. ‘Yeah?’

‘Mhm.’ she nodded.

‘How?’

‘Well, honey, where do I start?’ Donna spoke again. ‘She said he was handsome. Then she said that Damien wouldn’t like him. Also, for the past 2 months, she had been going to football games all of a sudden. And not Damien’s team. It wasn’t a coincidence that she only went to the Arrows’ games. Every time Damien insulted you, she stood quiet, or left the room. And when we ran into each other at the kids’ game, it was clear to me. I may be blonde, but I’m not that blonde.’

Oliver chuckled and continued talking to Donna, his heart slightly lighter than earlier.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

‘…The energy is rising, the air is heating up as Slade Wilson’s Arrows are about to face their biggest opponent- Damien Darhk’s HIVE!’ Kevin Harlan’s voice echoed all over the place, as the crowd went wild.

The atmosphere was filled with enthusiasm as spectators of all ages, men and women had taken every possible seat. Mexican waves were being made, people were shouting, singing victory songs, and cheering loudly for the team they supported.

Felicity was smiling, as she was looking at Barry jumping up and down with her mother singing and rooting for The HIVE.

They had arrived half an hour ago and were waiting for the game to start. As the commentator was announcing names of players and their achievements, Felicity was once again considering how to get away without Barry noticing.

‘Don’t even think about it!’ Barry smacked her shoulder slightly.

‘What?’ she asked and rubbed the place Barry had just hit.

‘Oh, please! It’s written all over your face…’ Barry wrapped an arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m not letting you go anywhere today, Smoak.’   

Felicity shook her head, as Barry pressed her tighter to his body. For some reason, she had a bad feeling about today. She was hoping she was wrong.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

Oliver pulled his sock higher as he watched his teammates shouting and messing around. Some of them were joking about things, while others were praying.

Slade had just left the room after his so-called motivational speech, in which he’d threatened their ‘spineless asses’ to torture them if they lost.

_Gotta love that guy…._

One by one players started leaving the locker room. Oliver tied his shoes and stood up.

‘Ready for this, man?’ Digg patted his shoulder.

‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’ Oliver smiled and together they started walking.

‘Sara wants you to come over for dinner after the game.’ Digg mentioned, as they were walking out of the room. ‘She missed you.’

‘Is Lyla bringing her tonight?’ Oliver asked while stretching his arms.

‘Hell yeah! She wants to see her daddy’s next victory.’ Digg smirked.

‘That’s nice!’ Oliver chuckled. ‘Now we can’t disappoint her, can we?’

‘Nope. We can’t.’

Just as Digg said those words another door opened in the long hall and Oliver saw Ray Palmer and Cooper Seldon coming out of it. His eyes met Cooper’s, but the douche quickly looked away.

The four of them started walking together, keeping their distance.

‘So, I was telling you…’ Ray started talking. ‘He hasn’t spoken to her in at least a month.’

‘I still don’t understand how it must’ve happened.’ Cooped added. ‘She’s such a Daddy’s girl. ‘ _We can’t go out tonight, Cooper. It’s Daddy birthday_!’, ‘ _I’m going to stop by Daddy’s place. He’s sick and I have to take care of him while Mommy’s away_ ’.’

Oliver’s jaw clenched as he heard the asshole imitating someone, who was clearly Felicity.

‘I’m not sure,’ Ray continued. ‘I heard it was because of some guy.’

‘What?’ Cooper asked incredulously. ‘No way!’

‘Damien didn’t want her to date him or something like that.’

‘He once again proves that he owns her ass.’ Cooper laughed.

Oliver turned to look at him, with fisted hands. When Cooper’s eyes met his, the two of them stared at each other, the hatred they had for each other more than obvious.

‘Easy, man.’ Digg patted Oliver’s back.

‘I also heard,’ Palmer spoke again. ‘He’s from another team.’

‘Shit.’ Cooper laughed. ‘Got the whole Shakespeare drama going on. Are you sure?’

‘I spoke to Carter and he thinks it’s…’ Ray cleared his throat. ‘ _You know who_ … But we can’t be completely sure. I haven’t spoken to neither of them. Although, Damien’s still trying to set me up with her.’

Oliver’s eyes widened as he looked at Diggle, who only nodded at him, a silent gesture, telling him to relax. Oliver took a deep breath and cracked his neck.

‘Well, I say, run while you can, dude.’ Cooper suggested.

‘She doesn’t seem that bad.’ Ray argued. ‘She’s got the whole smart girl vibe going on, that’s basically every man’s fantasy. You know, make a good girl turn into a freak.’

The idiots laughed, and Oliver wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of both of them. He couldn’t now. But after the game… They were dead men.

‘She can be fun in bed, I give her that.’ Cooper informed, and Oliver decided that he’d break at least one bone in his body, when the time was right. ‘But it’s not worth because it comes it a package. She thinks she’s the smartest person in the world, she can’t cook… She doesn’t like clubbing. Every time I asked her to go out to the club, she was like ‘ _Oh, babe, I don’t know… Why don’t we stay home and watch something, or go to the park?_ ’ Like, are you serious? Does she think we’re married? I’m a young guy! I wanna spend my youth partying… I honestly can’t think of who would actually wanna be with her.’

‘That’s a dumb ass thing to say given the fact that you’ve dated her.’

Oliver couldn’t contain his anger anymore, he had to give Cooper a piece of his mind. Yes, he wasn’t supposed to talk about Felicity, but he wasn’t gonna just sit and listen as this asshole insulted her.

Cooper slowly looked at him, and all four of them stopped walking. The douche looked surprised, as he narrowed his eyes, looking Oliver up and down. He then chuckled and took a step towards Oliver.

‘What’s your problem, Queen?’ he spoke. ‘Mind your own fucking business!’

‘I would, but you keep talking shit about people in front of me and it bugs the hell out of me.’ Oliver answered through gritted teeth.

‘Well, you don’t know a thing about what I’m saying so keep your nose out of other people’s conversations.’

‘You’re pathetic, you know that?’ Oliver took a step forward, getting closer to the idiot. ‘Talking behind your coach’s back, and talking crap about your ex… This is low, even for you.’

‘Oh, Saint Oliver to the rescue.’ Cooper said sarcastically. ‘Is it true, Queen? Have you been banging her behind Darhk’s back?’

Oliver just glared at him, not moving a single muscle.

Cooper huffed. ‘Like I said, mind your own business.’

‘I will. Once you shut the hell up.’

The two of them were mere inches, staring at each other intensely, both of them trying to control themselves.

‘Okay, enough.’ John spoke and got between them.

‘Always somebody saving your ass, Queen.’ Cooper spoke as Ray pulled him away from Oliver.

‘Nobody was there when I beat the shit out of you two years ago, Seldon.’ Oliver remarked and smirked when he saw Cooper’s angry grimace. ‘If I remember correctly, you were this close to crying like the little bitch you are.’

Cooper tried struggling out of Ray’s arms, but Palmer was much bigger than him.

‘Relax, dude.’ Ray spoke.

‘We’ll settle this on the field!’ Cooper said with a low voice. ‘I’ll kick your ass tonight!’

‘We’ll see about that!’ Oliver added, as Ray dragged Cooper away.

John and Oliver were left alone in the long hall.

‘Let’s go, man.’ Digg said after he made sure Cooper and Ray were not around.

‘You go, I’ll catch up with you in a minute.’ Oliver patted Digg’s back.

‘Where are you going?’ Diggle asked with a confused look on his face.

‘There’s something I want to do first. I’ll meet your outside.’

Oliver turned around and walked through the same door Cooper and Ray had come out from, without giving Diggle a chance to say anything.

Oliver walked determinedly through the hall. He had made up his mind. He was going to talk to Damien and he was going to settle this once and for all. He was going to ask his question, and he wouldn’t leave without answers.

When he reached the Ghost’s locker room, he didn’t even knock. He just walked in, hoping that Damien was here.

When he opened the door, he saw the man he was looking for, alone, talking on the phone. The second Damien saw him, his eyes widened, and he tilted his head. He hung up without a word and stood up.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked after a long pause.

‘I want to ask you some questions.’ Oliver answered.

‘And what makes you think I’ll answer?’

‘Oh, you will.’ Oliver nodded. ‘Because I’m not letting you out until you answer.’

‘Oh, what are you gonna do?’ Damien stepped closer. ‘Fight me again? If you think you’re gonna get Felicity back like that, you couldn’t be more wrong. You. Will. NEVER… EVER date her. I will not allow it.’

‘That’s exactly what I want to talk about.’ Oliver growled. ‘What the hell is your problem with me?’

‘You’re an annoying and cocky piece of shit.’ Damien snorted. ‘What more do you want?’

‘No!’ Oliver yelled. ‘You hated me way back.’

‘I will alwa-’

Damien was cut short with the sudden opening of the door. Oliver turned around and his breath hitched.

Five men dressed in black with masks stormed in. He felt the terror rush through his body, when he saw them all point their guns at him and Damien.

‘Damien Darhk…’ one of the men began talking. ‘I’ve been waiting for this for so long.’

‘What the hell is going on?’ Damien shouted at them.

‘Don’t worry Mr. Darhk.’ The guy spoke again. ‘There’s a chance you might live. If… you stay quiet.’

‘What-’ Damien tried asking again but the man interrupted him.

‘We’re abducting you, Mr. Darhk. Isn’t that obvious?’ he laughed. ‘We’re gonna blackmail your family.’

Oliver stood still, examining the people in front of him. He realized that, unfortunately, they were too many and he could not fight them. Especially when they were armed.

‘But now that I see Oliver Queen here… Maybe we can get more money, if we hold both of you hostage. What do you say boys?’ he asked his friends and they all roared in agreement. ‘It’s settled then.’

Oliver turned around and met Damien’s shocked eyes.

‘We were planning on asking for 15 million dollars for you, Mr. Darhk, but now that you’re joined by Mr. Queen…’ the leader spoke again. ‘We could raise the ransom to… ummm… 35 million? Yeah, sounds good.’

‘How’d you get in here?’ Oliver asked in a low voice.

‘Well, Mr. Queen, a gun can get you anywhere.’

A silence fell between them. Oliver tried to think of ways to get out of there, but they were blocking the door and there were no windows. And calling someone for help was not even an option.

‘Look,’ Damien raised his hands in surrender. ‘I will come with you without putting a fight. Just let the boy go.’

Oliver’s head shot up to look at him, because he was sure his mind was playing tricks on him. Did Damien Darhk just try to save him? That was not possible…

‘He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.’ Damien continued. ‘You need to let him go, okay?’

He turned around and looked at Oliver, who stood in his place, too shocked to make a move.

‘Oh, wow…’ the man in black spoke. ‘All those tabloids saying you two are at each other’s throats clearly have it wrong. I can see a real bromance here, yo.’

The men in black laughed, while Oliver shifted a little on his feet, suddenly, uncertain of his future.

What were those morons gonna do to them? Would they release them once their families had paid the money? Would he get to see another day? Would he get to see Thea graduate from college? Would he finally buy his parents that house by the beach he’d been planning for a while? Would he see John and Tommy again? Would he get to tell Felicity how much he loved her?

He didn’t know.

Just as he looked up, he saw a huge man in front of him. Before Oliver could act, the other guy had hit him hard in the face, causing Oliver to fall on the ground with a thud. His eyes were blurry, and he couldn’t feel anything but the pain, spreading from his face through his whole body.

‘OLIVER!’

Someone shouted his name, and it sounded like Damien, but Oliver thought he was imagining it. Because why would Damien worry about him? They hated each other.

‘STAY AWAKE!’

The voice yelled again, but all Oliver wanted was to close his eyes and sleep for days. Hell, he hadn’t had a proper sleep for a month… _He deserved it_.

He was so tired… So, so tired of everything.

He took a couple of slow breaths and managed to open his eyes, only to see a tall man punching Felicity’s dad the same way. Damien fell to the ground, right next to Oliver. Their eyes met for a brief second, before Oliver’s lids fell, making him succumb to defeat and darkness.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

Felicity was biting her nails nervously, waiting for the game to start. Everyone was waiting for Oliver and Damien, no one knowing where they were and why they weren’t out yet.

Fans were becoming visibly annoyed at the half an hour delay and their irritation was not helping her calm down.

‘It is really surprising for Damien Darhk to be late,’ the commentator’s voice echoed. ‘I hope Oliver Queen hasn’t cornered him somewhere and made sure that we’d never find Damien’s body.’

Felicity rolled her eyes at the horrible joke the commentator had just made. Kevin was a cool guy, but she would definitely go to his spot and punch him if he kept talking about how much Oliver and her dad hated each other.

‘Something’s wrong.’ She looked up at Barry.

‘Oh, don’t worry. They’re probably just trying to make a memorable entrance.’

‘Damien isn’t like that.’ Donna added.

‘I’ll ask around.’ Felicity said.

‘Wait, I’ll come with you.’ Her mother exclaimed and followed her.

They quickly went to The Ghosts’ benches. Everyone knew the two of them so there weren’t any problem with letting them in.

‘Cooper,’ Felicity called as soon as she saw her ex.

‘Felicity?’ he asked. ‘What do you want?’

‘Where’s Dad?’

‘He was inside when I last saw him.’ Cooper answered.

‘Will you go and look for him?’ Felicity asked again.

‘I can’t do that.’ Her ex told her. ‘If the game starts and I’m not here, it’s-’

‘The game won’t start till your coach and Oliver Queen are here…’ Felicity argued.

‘I’m sorry, Felicity, I’m not going.’

Felicity rolled her eyes and was just about to go and ask someone else, when suddenly Cooper grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him.

‘Speaking of…’ he started, his gaze stopping at her lips and then going up to her eyes. ‘What’s the deal with Oliver Queen and you?’

‘Excuse me?’ Felicity let out a humorless chuckle. ‘There is no deal.’

‘Reaally?’ he grinned. ‘I had a run-in with him earlier today. He seemed to know you.’

Felicity’s eyes travelled all over his face. She thought he was bluffing. _He had to be_.

‘Let go of me, Cooper.’

‘I heard you’ve been seeing someone from another team. You finally got over me, babe?’

‘Let me go!’ she demanded.

‘Is Queen my replacement, Felicity?’ Cooper whispered with a smug grin. ‘Are you trying to make me jealous?’

Felicity breathed in and met his eyes. ‘Let me go, or I swear to God, I will hurt you.’ She got closer to him and lowered her voice. ‘And if you’re so sure that I’m dating Oliver Queen, then you know what will happen when he finds out you’ve been harassing me.’

Cooper swallowed, clearly remembering that time two years ago, when Oliver had almost put him in a hospital. She still didn’t know what exactly they’d fought about but she didn’t even care.

All she wanted right now was to find Oliver and her dad, and to make sure they haven’t killed each other.

She pulled her hand out of Cooper, not waiting for his response and quickly ran to her mother.

‘We have to go and check.’ She told her mother.

‘Oh, dear…’ Donna put a hand over her mouth. ‘What if… What if they’re together? What if they’re fighting again?’

‘Mom, please, don’t…’ Felicity shook her head. ‘Let’s not think about that. Maybe Dad’s in the bathroom and Oliver is talki-’

‘Mrs. Darhk?’

Felicity and Donna turned around and were met by a policeman and a tall blond gentleman.

‘Yes, that’s me.’ Donna answered.

‘My name is John Constantine.’ He held out his hand to shake it. Then his eyes turned to Felicity. ‘Nice to meet you, Miss Darhk.’

‘Smoak.’ Felicity corrected. ‘I took my mother’s maiden name.’

‘Charming.’ The Constantine guy answered. He was probably British, judging by the accent. ‘I need you to follow me.’

With those words he put his hands around their waists and pulled them inside, followed by the policeman.

‘What is going on?’ Donna asked.

‘Something happened…’ Constantine answered and stopped suddenly. ‘People can’t know. At least not now. It will draw attention from the media, the security will be sued and-’

‘What happened?’ Felicity yelled all of a sudden, interrupting him.

He stopped talking and just stared at Felicity. His brown eyes held her gaze and she could see the worry in them. Something had happened. Something very bad. And it had something to do with her and her mother…

He let out a sigh and reached for something in the pocket of his coat. He took out a piece of paper and handed it to Donna.

‘I’m sorry.’ He muttered.

Felicity stood next to her mother and read the words on the note.

Her blood ran cold.

Her whole body started trembling, as water gathered in her eyes.

 

_‘To Damien Darhk and Oliver Queen’s families:_

_We have them with us. All we want is 35 million dollars and we’ll give them back to you._

_Here’s how it’s gonna work- 5 million per each day of the following week._

_We’re not afraid of the police, we can cover ourselves pretty good. In fact, we’ll call them later tonight to inform you how this payment will go._

_You have 24 hours to gather the first part, before we start sending them to you piece by piece.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada!  
> Did you see that coming? I hope not :D   
> What do you think? Tell me in the comments bellow and give me kudos if you liked it!  
> See you soon! Bye! ^_^


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! I'm SO SORRY for making you wait!  
> I had my prom and a lot of school work, and exams... Life got in the way of writing.  
> Anyway, here's the new chapter! We finally find out why Damien hates the Queens.  
> I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. This isn't beta-d.  
> Happy reading!

Oliver’s eyes snapped open, as pain washed all over his body.

He tried to rub his head, but he couldn’t move his hand. Suddenly, he realized he couldn’t move his entire body. He looked down and saw himself tied by the chest, and feet, while his hands were tied behind his back.

He looked up and looked around.

The place looked like a basement and was filled with darkness. The only light was coming from the slightly opened door on Oliver’s side. There was a desk in front of him, and when he looked up to the ceiling, he saw pipes, that were leaking.

The air was humid and heavy, and the whole place smelled like rottenness.

Oliver winced at the pain in his face, when he remembered what had happened.

He had been with Damien Darhk, then they were attacked. Oliver recalled being hit, and everything else from then on, was a blur.

‘Fuck…’ he whispered to himself.

‘Ah, good. You’re awake.’

Oliver jumped slightly at the voice coming from behind him. He turned his head around, slowly, because his whole body hurt, and met Damien’s eyes. He was tied with his back to Oliver, as well.

‘Wh-What happened?’ Oliver asked.

‘Queen, you can be such a dumbass sometimes.’ Damien sighed, and Oliver just clenched his jaw angrily. ‘We were abducted.’

‘By who?’

‘Well,’ Damien continued. ‘While you were unconscious, we had a nice little chat over tea and they told me their names, and hobbies, and we talked about politics…’

Oliver sighed at his sarcasm. ‘You could’ve just said you didn’t know.’

‘Stop asking stupid questions, and I will not answer like that.’ The other man said.

‘You know, why don’t you occupy that brain of yours with thinking of solutions to get us out of here, instead of arguing with me?’ Oliver suggested.

‘Of course someone else has to do the thinking. Again.’ Damien chuckled humorlessly.

‘Excuse me!’ Oliver turned his head around again. ‘But we’re here because of you!’

‘Because of _me_?’ Damien raised his voice. ‘No! _You’re_ here because you came to talk to me. No one asked you to.’

‘I had questions!’ Oliver argued. ‘You ruined my damn relationship, you dink!’

‘Your _relationship_ with _MY_ daughter!’ Damien answered back. ‘Of course I wanted it to be over! You, asshole, seduced her to make me angry!’

‘I didn’t even know she was your daughter when I met her!’ Oliver yelled. ‘God… She was in this, too, okay? It wasn’t just me! She wanted it too. She was happy! She-’

‘Pleasee, shut up!’ Damien shook his head. ‘You’re making my ears bleed!’

‘Well, well, well… You’re finally awake.’

Oliver and Damien both turned to the door and saw the man who had just spoken. Oliver gritted his teeth, recognizing the same guy from earlier.

‘I thought that this tough situation would bring you closer, but now I see that your drama goes on.’

Oliver stood quietly, observing the man. Even though he was wearing a mask, Oliver saw his long brown hair coming from underneath it. He had a scar, right above his left eyebrow and had icy blue eyes.

‘This conversation I just heard is pure trash, yo!’ he continued. ‘Any gossip magazine would have loved it.’

‘Look,’ Damien started. ‘If you let us go now, we will not contact the police. We’ll be on our merry way, and you will not face jail.’

The other man started laughing loudly.

‘Oh my…’ he started talking in between laughs. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, but we kinda want the police to know. Anyway, please, don’t kill each other just yet. We need to get the money from your families and then we’ll do it for you.’

He started laughing and with those words, he went out of the room, leaving Oliver and Damien behind, not answering any of their shouts after him.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Felicity was nervously biting her nails and pacing around the police station. She turned around and saw a mirror hanging on the wall and when she walked closer to get a better view of herself, she immediately regretted it. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were red and her makeup was smudged, leaving traces of black mascara on both of her cheeks.

Because she had cried. A lot. The two most important men in her life were in danger and she couldn’t get to them. She had no idea where they were, or whether they were okay.

Earlier she had tried calling them, no answer, _of course_.

She was only hoping they would make it out alive.

She looked away from her reflection and sat next to her mother on the bench. They were still waiting for that call and it wasn’t helping that Detective British-Ass (as she’d named John Constantine) was a total douche. He had done nothing but make inappropriate jokes about whether Oliver and her dad were still alive and how if their abductors didn’t kill them, they would probably do it themselves.

Felicity placed her hand on her mother’s back, and she immediately straightened up. Felicity’s heart clenched when she saw her mother sporting the same red-eye and ruined makeup as her.

‘Barry went to buy us coffee. He’ll be back in 15 minutes.’ Felicity spoke. When she didn’t get an answer from her mother, she continued. ‘I just spoke to British-Ass.’

‘Any news?’ Donna asked.

‘No.’ Felicity whispered. ‘But they’re looking for any traces or anything that might lead to the bastards.’

‘What if they don’t find anything?’ Donna sniffled loudly. ‘Oh my God, what if they’re already dead?’

Felicity shivered. ‘Mom, please… Don’t go there.’

‘I don’t want to bury your father just yet, Felicity!’ her mother started crying louder. ‘I’m not ready, okay? I’m not ready to say goodbye!’

Felicity’s eyes watered and she tried to swallow the bump in her throat unsuccessfully. Just as she was about to speak, she heard loud and hurried steps approaching and voices down the hall. She looked up, and sighed in relief when she saw the Queen family, followed by Tommy and Digg.

‘Felicity!’ Thea shouted.

Felicity stood up on her feet and met Thea in a crushing hug. The younger girl started crying loudly and Felicity felt a couple of tears streaming down her own face. A few seconds later, Moira had joined them and the three of them were hugging each other and crying.

‘What happened?’ Moira asked, when they finally let go.

Felicity sniffled and looked at her mother. Donna handed her the piece of paper the abductors had left, and she handed it to Moira. Her eyes ran wildly over the words and when she finished reading them, she dropped the paper and buried her face in her husband’s chest.

Digg picked it up and he and Tommy read it quickly. Worry was written on their faces, as well.

‘Any clues?’ Robert asked.

‘No. Nothing yet.’

Moira sniffled and then looked straight at Felicity’s Mom. ‘Hello.’

‘Hello!’ Donna smiled weakly.

‘I’m Moira Queen, Oliver’s mother.’ She shook Donna’s hand. ‘And this is my husband, Robert. This is Oliver’s sister- Thea, and these are his friends- John and Tommy.’

‘It’s very nice to meet you.’ Felicity’s mom answered. ‘Too bad it’s in such circumstances.’

‘Where’s that damn detective anyway?’ Moira yelled.

‘Honey, calm down.’ Robert hugged her by the shoulders.

‘My boy is missing, Robert!’ Moira raised her voice. ‘OUR BOY! He was abducted! Don’t tell me to calm down or-’

‘Ah, Queens. Welcome.’

Felicity winced at that familiar accent and turned around to face the man himself.

‘You’re kinda late.’ Constantine spoke.

‘Excuse me? Who are you?’ Moira asked.

‘John Constantine! A pleasure to meet you!’

‘Who are you?’ Tommy repeated the question.

‘That’s the detective.’ Felicity muttered.

‘Yes,’ Constantine nodded. ‘And sorry if I’m rude, but where were you exactly, when your son was abducted?’

‘We…’ Robert cleared his throat. ‘We were on a business meeting in Gotham! We had to fly all the way from there!’

‘Aha.’ British-Ass sighed. ‘Well, now that we’re all here... Let’s talk about the money. How long will it take for you to gather it, how will you be paying, whe-’

‘What?’ Moira asked.

‘I’m sorry.’ British-Ass tilted his head. ‘What part didn’t you understand?’

‘We’re not here to talk about money.’ Robert said. ‘We’re here to know how you will save Oliver and Damien.’

‘Right.’ Constantine nodded. ‘You do know that these asshats want your money, right mate? You have to give them 5 million per day. I’m sure for rich families like you, this won’t be a problem.’

‘While you do what?’ Donna finally spoke and stood up.

‘We’re doing all we can for now.’

‘Which is…?’ Felicity yelled. ‘Walking around, smoking, and telling us you can’t do anything at the moment?!’

‘Miss Smoa-’

‘Don’t you ‘Miss Smoak’ me!’ Felicity spoke through gritted teeth. ‘The problem is not the money! We’ll give all of it and more if we’re gonna get them back in the end. But how do we know that this will stop and they will not continue to blackmail us after this week’s done?’

‘We… can’t know that.’ Constantine looked at her, his face clear of expression.

‘Exactly.’ Felicity said. ‘That’s why I want you to move your British _buttocks_ and find something that will help us get them back. We’ll prepare the money, but I want to know you’re actually doing something! And I will follow you around, watching every step!’

‘Miss Smoak,’ Constantine started. ‘This is not a way to speak to a detective.’

‘I’ve been putting up with your bullshit all evening…’ Felicity answered. ‘If you were me, you’d speak the same way.’

Constantine just stared at her, not saying anything. A small smile appeared on his face, and he took out his phone. He dialed a number and waited.

‘Yes, Eric, this is Constantine.’ He spoke. ‘It’s about the Darhk/Queen case. I’ll take it myself. Personally. Send me a car and two police officers and we’re going back to the sight of the abduction. Also, I’m bringing a companion with me… No, not that kind of companion. Although, if she’s willing, I wouldn’t oppose.’

Felicity winced at his not-so-subtle hint. She looked around and everyone was just as disgusted and annoyed by his remark as her.

‘Yes… Thank you!’ Constantine said and hung up. He grinned and eyed everyone. ‘Let’s catch some motherfuckers.’

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

‘… therefore, you’re an arrogant piece of shit.’

Oliver huffed his annoyance after yet another dirty remark on Damien’s side. He rolled his eyes, but decided not to bite back.

‘May I remind you,’ he started. ‘We’re still locked up! I think we have bigger problems than what I did in May 2013, huh?’

‘You annoyi-’ Damien started.

‘I know, I know…’ Oliver interrupted him. ‘I’m an annoying piece of shit. You’ve been saying that for the past couple of hours. Now, if you’re done acting like a little bitch, can we please think of ways to get out?’

Oliver heard Damien take a deep breath. They both stood silent for a moment, before the older man spoke.

‘I’m gonna be honest, Queen… I don’t think we’ll make it out alive.’

‘What are you saying?!’ Oliver furrowed his eyebrows. ‘We… can’t afford to think like that! We have to try something!’

‘Look around.’ Damien said. ‘We’re trapped, we’re tied down… Hell, we don’t know where we are!’

‘So what now?’ Oliver turned his head around. ‘We give up and wait for our death?’

‘Well, that,’ Damien turned around as well. ‘Or we wait for our families to pay.’

‘Wow…’ Oliver shook his head slightly. ‘How did you even become a coach?!’

‘Wha-’

‘A true coach never gives up!’ Oliver spoke. ‘A true coach motivates, and thinks of different techniques!’

‘Real life is not like the field.’ Damien said with absolute defeat.

‘Yes, it is!’ Oliver argued. ‘You try something, you fail, you try again till you succeed!’

‘Yes, but here, we don’t have a second chance! We fail, we die!’ Damien almost yelled. ‘It’s better to keep our heads down for now and be quiet. Then, there is a slight chance we might survive. Or at least, die painlessly.’

Oliver huffed. ‘I don’t know about you, but I want to live. My whole life is ahead of me, I have people to return to… And so do you.’

They stayed quiet for a second, and Oliver assumed Damien was thinking his words over.

‘My poor Donna…’ Damien spoke all of a sudden. ‘She’s probably crazy worried about me.’

Oliver heard him sniffle. Oliver cleared his throat.

‘My parents are probably threating to sue anyone who isn’t doing something to save me…’

‘Yeah… Knowing them, they probably are.’ Damien said.

‘And my sister…’

‘You have a sister?’ Damien asked.

‘Yes, I do.’ Oliver was looking at some random spot on the wall. He closed his eyes and remembered the day Thea first started walking, and how she’d followed him around all day after that moment. ‘She’s 8 years younger than me. She’s graduating from high school in 3 months.’

‘I have a younger sister, too. Had…’ Damien corrected himself. ‘She… she knew your family.’

Oliver stood quiet waiting for the other man’s words. He was breathing slowly in order to hear every single sound, but his heart was beating fast. He didn’t know if it was the adrenaline from the current situation, or because he was finally having a normal conversation with Damien Darhk.

‘She had an affair with your father.’

Oliver’s breath caught.

‘This was a long time ago.’ Damien continued. ‘Alina… she was your father’s secretary.’

Oliver swallowed thickly. He had a feeling deep in his bones that the story he was about to hear, was going to give him answers to a lot of his questions.

‘You probably don’t know this but back when you were a child, your father wasn’t the most faithful husband.’

Oliver knew that very well. He remembered every time he’d heard his parents’ fights and how scared he’d been. As he grew up, he realized that these arguments were about other women, but he tried not to take sides since he loved both, his mother and father. When Thea was born, suddenly the fights reduced and his parents seemed better than before, for which he had been more than grateful.

‘She was 27 at that time.’ Damien spoke again. ‘He liked her from the beginning and started pursuing her.’

Oliver closed his eyes and shook his head.

‘They had an affair.’ Damien simply said. ‘When I found out, I told her to put an end to it, but she told me she knew what she was doing.’

Damien let out a humorless chuckle, followed by a deep sigh. Oliver opened his eyes again and stared at the wall in front of him.

‘After a really heated argument with your mother, Robert decided they needed to take a break. So he and Alina went on a boat in North China Sea.’

‘My father shipwrecked there.’ Oliver mentioned.

Damien cleared his throat before talking again.

‘Yes. He did. Alina was with him, too. Three days later they found your father and saved him. And Alina, she, um… She didn’t make it. They never found her body.’

Oliver didn’t know what to say. All he did was purse his lips and close his eyes.

‘When…’ Damien started again. ‘When you were 17, you already had some fame among us, coaches. Do you remember that day when you came to sign with The HIVE?’

Oliver swallowed hard again. ‘Yes.’ He whispered.

 _How could he forget?_ He had received a call from The HIVE. They had told him they were considering his transfer to their team and he had been over the moon. He was 17 and he was going to play professionally for one of the biggest teams in the world! When he had gone to the meeting, however, Damien had been hostile and had made a lot of rude remarks towards him.

‘You hated me because of what my father did to your sister. You blame him for her death.’ Oliver spoke.

Damien didn’t respond but Oliver knew he was right.

‘I just couldn’t let him have everything in his life perfect.’ He said after a while with a weak voice. ‘She was my baby sister… I told the managers and owners not to take you.’

Oliver recalled the day they had called him to tell him that they had changed their mind and were sorry. He had cried the whole night, and had stopped playing till college. Then he had joined the university’s team, and in his last year there, he had managed to get a contract with the Arrows.

‘Thank you for finally giving me answers.’ Oliver said quietly.

Damien didn’t answer right back. Instead the two of them stood silent, neither knowing what to say next. Oliver was just staring at a spot on the wall, thinking of every single one encounter he’d had with Damien. Every single thing that’s happened to him, was because of his father’s mistake.

‘I’m sorry.’ He whispered.

‘Thanks.’ Damien said.

‘Did my dad at least apologize?’

‘Oh, he did! Multiple times.’ Darhk informed him. ‘But that doesn’t bring Alina back, does it?’

‘He really is sorry.’ Oliver said. ‘He’s never been on a boat since then.’

‘I don’t care. He should’ve been the one to die, not her.’

‘Look, I understand that you were hurt, but you shouldn’t have done those things to me. I was innocent.’ Oliver said. ‘As you said, it doesn’t bring her back.’

‘You have a sister, too, and I’m sure you’d do the same!’

‘You were angry with my father, but you harmed _me_!’ Oliver raised his voice.

‘Just like you did to Felicity, huh?’ Damien snorted.

‘Excuse me?’ Oliver turned around with furrowed brows.

‘Oh, please.’ Damien turned around as well. ‘You were mad at me, so you hurt Felicity instead.’

‘I never hurt her.’

‘You did when you left that night!’

‘That’s…’ Oliver tilted his head slightly. ‘That’s not the same.’

‘Yes, it is.’ Damien continued. ‘You’re mad at someone, you punish people close to them… You’re just like me.’

Oliver was about to argue, when suddenly he realized that Damien Darhk was right. While he had been busy being angry at Damien that night, he had completely stopped thinking about Felicity for a second. He had broken up with her in a terrible way and he’d hurt her. All because he was upset with her father.

‘How did you two even meet?’ Damien asked out of the blue.

‘In front of a bookshop.’ Oliver responded.

‘Huh… That was…’ Damien started. ‘Unexpected.’

‘Yeah, I don’t go clubbing every night.’ Oliver said with a roll of his eyes. ‘I’m not like that, you know. I’m not what you think I am.’ He shrugged. ‘I was that kind of guy, but not anymore. The second I laid my eyes on Felicity, something happened… I never believed in love at first sight, until I met her.’

‘You… You love her?’ Damien asked suspiciously.

Oliver swallowed thickly. ‘I love her.’

He hadn’t even had the chance to say these words to her, and here he was, telling them to her father, the man who hated him the most.

Damien cleared his throat. ‘I didn’t know.’

‘How could you?’ Oliver asked with a humorless chuckle. ‘You didn’t even give me a chance.’

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

‘This is so cool!’ Barry said as he got out of the car.

The second he met Felicity’s angry glare, he coughed and looked away in embarrassment. ‘Sorry.’ He muttered. ‘It’s not really cool. Your dad and boyfriend are missing and I’m not making things easier.’

‘Pardon?’ Constantine helped Felicity out of the car. ‘Boyfriend? You’re seeing Oliver Queen?’

‘I _was_.’ Felicity corrected.

‘Wait…’ Constantine grinned. ‘Didn’t they hate each other?’

Felicity just stared at him and sighed, as she, Barry and John Constantine walked into the stadium followed by two cops. ‘How is digging into my personal life going to help with the case?’ she asked.

‘Well, it’s not.’ The blond man laughed. ‘I’m just curious.’

‘Well, stop.’

‘Damn, Miss Smoak, you hold such fire.’ he bumped her shoulder with his own and walked ahead of her. ‘If you were dating someone smaller, I would’ve tried hitting on you. But I really don’t want to be beaten down by Oliver Queen... His arms are, like, twice the size of yours.’ He smiled at Barry.

‘Technically, they’re not twice the size…’ Barry pouted.

They walked through the long halls till they reached the lockers. Constantine started bossing the cops around as they took out different equipment. Felicity and Barry stood to the side, waiting.

‘Anything we can do to help?’ Barry asked.

‘Well, Mr. Allen,’ John spoke. ‘I wouldn’t have taken you with me if I wasn’t going to use your talents. I know you’re a forensic scientist and that Miss Smoak is brilliant with computers. This will come in handy.’ He met Felicity’s confused expression. ‘What? You didn’t think you’d just stand there, did you?’

‘No…’ Felicity spoke as one of the cops handed her a tablet. ‘I just… How did you know what do we do?’

‘I did my homework on both of you.’ Constantine said with a smile.

‘Wow… You’re honest…’ Barry whispered.

‘I try.’ Constantine winked. ‘Now let’s get to work.’

The cops left the room to give them space and the trio got to work. Barry set up the things he’d need while Constantine and Felicity split up looking for any traces of the intruders. Soon Barry joined them with some plastic bags and some test tubes.

‘They seem too smart to leave any traces…’ Felicity sighed as she crawled on the floor. ‘This is useless.’

‘Got a better idea?’ Constantine said while he was looking under the main desk. ‘Be my guest and share it with us.’

‘No, but…’ Felicity shook her head and looked down. She narrowed her eyes as she saw something that looked like fingerprints on the ground. ‘I think I got something.’

Barry and Constantine lied on the floor next to her to look at her revelation.

‘Nicely done, sunshine!’ Constantine patted her back.

Barry carefully got it on a napkin and handed it to Felicity. She connected her tablet to some other machines and put the fingerprints for scanning.

‘C’mon… c’mon…’ she whispered.

She put the tablet down on the desk and leaned on Barry’s shoulder.

‘You okay?’ he asked.

‘As okay as I can be in this situation…’ she sighed.

‘Sorry to interrupt,’ Constantine started. ‘But how do you think those fingerprints ended up on the ground?’

For the first time since discovering it, Felicity really gave it a thought. She looked the detective straight in the eyes and shrugged, not really having an answer. Because he was right- it was weird.

The tablet beeped, telling Felicity that the search was done. She eagerly ran to it and took it in her hands.

‘Damn it…’ she cursed when she saw the results.

‘What is it?’ Barry stood next to her.

‘The fingerprints belong to my father…’ Felicity swallowed hard. ‘We didn’t get anything…’

‘Well, we got that at some point your father was on the ground.’ Constantine added.

‘Wow…’ Felicity rolled her eyes. ‘You’ve _cracked_ the case…’

‘Look, I’m sorry.’ The detective sighed. ‘I was just trying to lighten up the mood.’

‘Yeah, her father and boyfriend are missing and-’ Barry started defending her, but Felicity stopped listening and instead focused on the camera on the ceiling.

‘We’re so stupid!’ she yelled. ‘There’s a camera!’ 

She pushed the two men and took the tablet in her hands again, tapping animatedly.

‘What. Are. You doing?’ John Constantine asked with a raised eyebrow.

‘I’m going to hack into the camera’s system and we’ll see the attackers.’ She said with a proud smile.

‘Yeah, not to rain on your parade,’ the blond man started. ‘But we already checked it out. They’re smarter than that.’

‘What do you mean?’ Barry asked.

‘Well, they must’ve stopped the recording or deleted it, I don’t know.’ The detective shrugged.

‘Well,’ Felicity cracked her neck. ‘I didn’t graduate from M.I.T. for nothing.’

‘Okay, let’s head back to the station.’ Constantine suggested. ‘We didn’t find anything else, so your talent, Miss Smoak, is our only hope for now.’

Felicity felt Barry’s hand on her shoulder and nodded. The three of them quickly gathered the whole equipment and walked away from the crime scene.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

An uncomfortable silence had stretched between Oliver and Damien after their previous conversation. Neither had spoken, since they didn’t know what to do or say to the other. Their abductors hadn’t come to check up on them yet and Oliver didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried. Oliver tried to pull his hands out of the ropes, earning a small laugh from Damien.

‘It’s useless.’ The older man said. ‘It’s too tight.’

‘Yeah, well, I had to try.’ Oliver sighed.

They fell silent, before he started talking again.

‘Why did you try to save me?’ he asked.

‘What?’ Damien sounded confused.

‘When they came in the locker room, you told them to let me go.’ Oliver reminded him. ‘Why? I mean, you hate me. Aren’t you happy that I’m in trouble?’

Damien huffed, as Oliver turned around and saw him shaking his head.

‘I’m not happy that you’re in danger, Queen… especially when I’m the reason.’ Damien turned and met his eyes. ‘I don’t hate you _THAT_ much.’

Oliver felt his lips tilting up, forming a small smile.

If anyone had told him that one day he’d be abducted and tied up with Damien Darhk, he would’ve laughed at their face. But here he was… Abducted and tied up with Damien Darhk.

‘Holy shit!’ Damien shouted all of a sudden.

‘What? What happened?’

‘I have a pocket knife.’

‘You what?’ Oliver asked incredulously.

‘I completely forgot about it.’ Damien laughed.

‘How did they not notice it?’ Oliver wondered.

‘I don’t know and I don’t care!’ Damien exclaimed. ‘Can you reach it?’

‘I can try.’

Oliver stretched his tied hands and tried angling them towards Damien’s pocket. He tried turning his head but then it was harder to move his hands.

‘Fuck…’ he whispered in his struggle.

He tried shifting his body, but all the ropes around him didn’t allow him to move much.

‘Jump closer to me, c’mon.’ Damien urged.

‘Why don’t _you_ jump to me?’ Oliver asked annoyed.

A thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead, and he knew his body was to follow soon. The heat in the small basement was too much, and his struggle only caused him to sweat more.

‘Because,’ Damien sighed. ‘You’re younger.’

Oliver let out a tired sigh, but he knew that Damien was right. He squeezed the sides of the chair and jumped with it once, and landed loudly.

‘Hey, hey, hey!’ Damien exclaimed. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m jumping to you…’

‘You want those dicks to come back?’ the older man asked. ‘If no, try being more quiet.’

‘If you’re so smart, why don’t you do it?’ Oliver asked angrily.

‘Because my bones are older and more tired.’

Oliver huffed. Slowly, he jumped a couple more times, making sure not to make too much noise. When he was close enough, he reached for Damien’s pocket and finally took a hold of the knife.

‘Yes…’ he whispered.

‘Well done.’ Damien said.

Oliver twisted his head, so that he could see Damien’s hands and carefully started cutting the rope around them. He was so focused on his task, he didn’t notice Damien’s gaze on him.

‘What?’ Oliver asked when he finally looked up and saw Felicity’s dad looking at him.

‘Nothing. It’s… nothing.’ Damien looked down at his hands.

Oliver narrowed his eyes, but continued what he had started. When he finally freed Damien’s hands, he let out a relieved sigh and dropped the knife to the floor. The other man started untying the rest of the ropes around him. Oliver watched him, as he stood up and stretched his arms.

‘Ugh,’ Damien grunted. ‘Finally…’ he looked down to see Oliver still tied to his chair. ‘Oh, right.’

He got closer and helped Oliver till he was free too. Oliver got up on his feet and stretched as well. He rolled his shoulders a couple of times and cracked his neck.

‘I don’t know how long we’ve been sitting here, but I can’t feel my legs.’ He spoke and jumped up a couple of times.

Damien was looking around the room, and Oliver just watched him curiously.

‘What now?’ he asked.

‘Well,’ Damien started. ‘We need to get out, but not unarmed.’

‘Um… I don’t really think they left guns or anything here…’ Oliver said.

‘We need to look for something, whatever it is, to help us out.’ Damien said he opened one of the drawers on the desk.

Oliver got closer and saw it was empty. The older man cursed and opened the rest of the drawers, but unfortunately, they were empty as well.

‘Well,’ Oliver spoke. ‘Looks like we’re on our own.’

‘We…’ Damien shook his head. ‘We can’t go out alone, unprotected.’

‘We’re not unprotected.’

Damien looked at Oliver questioningly.

‘We have each other.’ Oliver pursed his lips.

Less than 24 hours the two of them could’ve killed each other, but now they were on the same side. They didn’t have a choice, but to trust each other completely.

Damien’s eyes widened at first, but then he nodded.

‘We need a plan.’ Oliver spoke.

‘Yes.’ The older man agreed. ‘Here’s what we’re gonna do…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? I hope you liked it, if you did, give me kudos! Leave me comments saying what you thought! Next chapter will probably be the last one, so yeah.  
> Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting, your support means the world to me.  
> Also, I have a little surprise for you- I'm currently writing a short sequel to Wars of Power. ^_^ I don't know when it'll be ready, but I just wanted to let you know! ;)  
> Bye <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys!  
> First of all, I am terribhly sorry for being 2 (or 3) weeks late. I have been studying like CRAZY for the past month because I have 4 exams coming. Those exams are very important to me, because if I get good grades, I will go to a Medical University! I want to be a doctor or a dentist, so it's really important for me to get in. That's why I barely had time to write. Plus, I had my birthday this week (I turned 19)... So yeah. :D  
> Since this is the last chapter, I want to thank you all for reading and commenting. I hope I managed to entertain you with this story because it was really fun for me to write. Also, I am writing a short sequel to Wars of Power, so expect that in the near future (after my exams are over). I have another story idea, and I think you're gonna love it. It's gonna be a romantic comedy 'cause those are my favorite type of movies/books/stories. ^_^ I hope you stick around and read those as well.  
> Anyway, this isn't beta-d and English isn't my first language, so forgive me if there are a lot of mistakes.  
> Happy reading! ^_^

After leaving the basement where they’d been imprisoned, Oliver and Damien found themselves in an endless hall. There was a small light in the end, which they assumed was the way out.

‘Could this be a trap?’ Damien asked cautiously.

Oliver looked at him, and took a couple of steps forward. He turned around and nodded to Damien to follow him.

The two started walking slowly through the hall.

‘What the hell is that?’ Damien asked when they finally reached the end of it.

They looked around the spacious room. There were no furniture, no windows, and no cameras. _Absolutely nothing_. The only thing that they saw was a light bulb hanging from the wall, making it slightly brighter than the basement. There was also a door, painted in the same dirty white color as the whole room.

‘Where are we?’ Damien asked again.

Oliver eyed the room carefully, his eyes stopping on a small writing on one of the walls.

‘Look!’ he pointed towards it so that Damien could see.

The two of them got closer.

 _21_.

’21?’ Damien sounded confused. ‘What the hell does that mean?’

‘No idea.’ Oliver shrugged. ‘The number of people involved? ... A date? … Could it be just a random number?’

‘I don’t think so…’ Damien pursed his lips.

‘Let’s go.’ Oliver said after a couple of silent seconds.

Just as he headed towards the door, he felt Damien’s hand on his elbow, stopping him from walking.

‘Wait a second…’ the older man spoke. ‘Doesn’t this look too easy?’

‘What do you mean?’ Oliver furrowed his eyebrows.

‘Where are all the guards that are supposed to keep us in here?’ Damien raised his brow. ‘We’re worth a lot of money. They can’t risk to lose us.’

‘Look,’ Oliver started. ‘We are outnumbered. They think that we’ll be too scared to attempt anything. They also think we’d rather stay quiet and tied up than team up against them. That’s _NOT_ the case.’

Damien looked at him and nodded. Oliver opened the door and saw stairs leading up. The two of them climbed up and found themselves in another room. It was exactly the same as the one they were previously in.

‘What the fuck is going on?’ Damien asked.

Oliver was more than confused at this point. The place was in the same color, the door was at the exact same place. The only difference was the small refrigerator in one of the corners.

‘This place looks so simple.’ Oliver commented. ‘It’s like… Like it was built in a hurry.’

‘Look!’ Damien pointed towards the wall. ‘Another number.’

 _20_.

The two shared a look.

‘The numbers are some kind of signs…’ Damien spoke. ‘To show you where you are exactly.’

After a couple of silent moments, Oliver started talking.

‘It actually makes perfect sense.’ He remarked. ‘Those ‘rooms’ are basically the same. Using these numbers they can tell them apart.’

‘Don’t you find the arrangement weird, though?’ Damien frowned. ’21, 20… Why is the upper floor 20, and not the other way around? Was it a mistake? And why these numbers specifically? … And what’s with that horrible smell of shit down here?’ he winced.

‘Well, most basements smell like shit.’ Oliver rolled his eyes.

‘Yeah, but the stench here is slightly stronger… like we’re right next to the sewage pipes.’

Suddenly, Oliver’s eyes widened in realization. He looked around.

The smell, the darkness surrounding, the numbers, the simplicity of whole place…

_It all made sense now._

‘What?’ Damien asked. ‘What are you thinking?’

‘I finally figured it out.’ Oliver spoke quietly. ‘We’re in an underground bunker.’

‘What? Like the ones people build in case the end of the world comes?’ Damien asked in confusion.

‘Exactly like those.’ Oliver spoke.

‘No.’

‘Just think.’ Oliver took a step towards the wall. ‘No windows. How can a room not have windows? Because there isn’t sunshine underground.’

Damien stood quiet, so Oliver continued talking.

‘The rooms are small, and not furnished, because no one lives here. Yet… Only this small fridge. Because food is a necessity. I bet it’s all canned.’

He paced towards the small cold box and opened it. He laughed when he saw the tinned tomatoes, frozen peas and other tin cans.

Damien walked up behind him and peaked.

‘Okay…’ he breathed out. ‘So what? Our abductors believe the end of the world is near?’

‘Also…’ Oliver had a different suggestion. ‘Are rich enough to have bought this place.’

‘Then why would they want money?’ Damien frowned. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

‘Maybe they lost their money. Maybe they had rich parents.’ Oliver shrugged. ‘That doesn’t matter right now. We have a bigger problem.’

Damien let out a humorless chuckle, the one that shows desperation and helplessness. ‘What could it possibly be?’

‘Those numbers…’ Oliver looked at the wall. ‘There isn’t a mistake.’

Damien narrowed his eyes towards Oliver and then turned towards the wall, where the _20_ stood. Oliver was still on the floor by the small fridge, as he watched the other man walk towards the wall. Damien glided his hand over the number, and suddenly turned around with shocked eyes.

‘No…’ he whispered, as realization hit him.

‘Yes.’ Oliver nodded. ‘We are 20 floors under the ground.’

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Felicity had just arrived at the station with British-Ass and Barry, when they were met by a worried woman in a uniform.

‘Constantine!’ she called, as she approached them.

‘Yes, Angelica?’

‘On the Darhk/Queen case. We received a note.’ She informed.

‘Another note…’ the blond man looked at Felicity.

‘Frack…’ she sighed. ‘Can’t they just send a damn text?’

‘Well, sweetheart,’ John let out a humorless chuckle. ‘They know we can track them if they send a text. While a piece of paper…’

‘I know!’ Felicity interrupted him. ‘I understand. It’s just… they’re smarter than we thought.’

‘No, Miss Smoak,’ Constantine spoke. ‘They’re smarter than _YOU_ thought… I knew exactly how smart they were the second they kidnapped two of the most famous men in the world. No idiot and no amateur would do that.’

Felicity felt her cheeks burning at his biting remark. The tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, as emotions she’d been holding threatened to show.

Her father and Oliver were missing and she couldn’t do anything to help them. She didn’t know if they were even alive. The thought of the opposite made a couple of tears escape her eyes.

‘I need some air.’

She ran out of the room, not answering Barry’s shouts after her. As she stepped out, she heard him coming after her. The fresh air filled her lungs, as dawn was breaking. She quickly looked at her watch and saw that it was 5:03am.

They had been missing for the past 9 hours now.

‘Leave me alone, Barry.’ She sighed. ‘I just need a minute.’

‘I’m scared to leave you alone.’ He answered.

‘I’m not gonna commit suicide, I swear.’

‘It’s not that. I just think you just need somebody here.’

He wrapped his arms around her and she finally broke. The tears she’d been holding for the past couple of hours all came out as she started crying loudly. For some reason, all hope had left her.

‘I’m so scared, Barry.’ She sobbed.

‘So am I.’ he whispered in her hair. ‘I hope that they come back to us, Felicity. I really do.’

‘The worst part of this whole thing is that they can’t stand each other. They probably feel so alone and don’t trust each other.’ She snuggled closer to Barry.

Both, Oliver and her father, were held somewhere, scared, lonely, hopeless…

‘Are you alright, sunshine?’ a voice spoke.

Felicity rolled her eyes and looked up to meet the detective’s eyes.

‘I’m sorry, I know I can be a bit… insensible.’ British-Ass sighed.

‘Ya think?’ Barry remarked.

‘So, I’m not gonna say anything and make things worse.’ Constantine lifted his hands in surrender. ‘I just came to ask if you wanted to read the note.’

‘No.’ Felicity shook her head. ‘Just give it to my mom and the Queens so they could pay.’

Constantine nodded. For a second, he stood looking at her and Barry, as if he was hesitating to say something. A couple of different emotions crossed his face, before he exhaled loudly.

‘Oh, fuck it…’ he cursed.

He stepped closer and grabbed Felicity’s hand and led her inside. Barry followed as they strode through the police station. Constantine wasn’t paying attention to anything around them, he just held Felicity by the wrist and pulled her. When they reached a door at the end of the hall, he looked around and opened it pushing Felicity and Barry inside. Felicity’s eyes widened when she saw the modern technology in the room. She saw a prototype of a computer that wasn’t even out yet and blinked a couple of times.

‘What are we doing here?’ Barry asked.

‘This… is the FBI.’ Constantine smiled. ‘Their computer system is much better than the regular police’s.’

‘Why is FBI’s equipment here?’ Barry asked.

‘You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?’ Constantine narrowed his eyes. ‘Felicity, I think you will be able to work here, yes?’

‘Yes.’ She nodded and got behind the computer.

Felicity hacked into the stadium’s security system in no time.

‘I’m in.’ she informed the two men.

‘That was quick.’ Constantine walked around the desk next to her.

‘She’s the best.’ Barry beamed as he followed Constantine’s lead.

The three of them started looking through the footage from the security cameras.

On the video, they saw everyone from the HIVE leaving, and Damien making a phone call. A couple of minutes later Oliver walked in and just as Damien opened his mouth to talk, the video stopped.

‘Damn it.’ Barry muttered.

‘Don’t worry.’ Felicity smiled. ‘There’s good news.’

‘Like?’ British-Ass asked.

‘Well, they didn’t stop the camera when they walked in, so that means that it filmed the whole thing. They just deleted it afterwards.’ She explained.

‘And how is that good news?’

‘It would have been hard if they had stopped the camera because there wouldn’t have been any footage. But now… the footage just needs to be restored. It’s somewhere there in the cyberspace and once it’s out there-’

‘Yeah, yeah, less tech talk, please.’ Constantine interrupted her. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It means,’ she started typing her codes on the computer. ‘That I can find it.’

‘Good then.’ He nodded. ‘How long it will take?’

‘It should be ready just… about…’ she counted to three in her head when the computer beeped. ‘Now.’ She smiled.

‘Wow, you’re… You’re really good at this!’ Constantine looked at her in awe. ‘Would you be interested in a job in the FBI or-’

‘Really?’ Barry looked at him with an annoyed expression on his face. ‘Now?’

‘Yeah, Detective, now’s not the best time to discuss job offers.’ She agreed with Barry and pressed ‘play’ on the video.

They watched as Oliver and Damien exchanged a couple of words and then all of a sudden they turned towards the door. They saw the horror on Oliver’s face as he took a couple of steps back towards Damien and the desk. For a couple of moments no one walked in, as the abductors stood by the door, not coming in the camera’s coverage. Then all of a sudden, a tall and well-built man walked in front of Oliver and punched him hard.

Felicity inhaled sharply and dug her nails in the chair tightly. She saw Oliver falling to the ground and she almost broke down crying. Then the same man repeated his actions to her father, who fell down next to Oliver.

Two other men grabbed them by the hands and dragged them out of the room. Felicity’s eyes were wet already, but she swallowed hard, trying to stay calm. She shouldn’t let personal feelings get in the way.

‘Damn it.’ Barry muttered. ‘None of them turned around.’

‘And even if they did,’ Constantine spoke. ‘They wore masks.’  

Felicity played the video again in slow motion, watching frame by frame. She looked all around the room and its’ surroundings. Her eyes landed on a metal thermos, placed on the desk. She immediately recognized it, because she had bought it for her father a couple of years ago to keep his drinks warm. She stopped the video and zoomed on it. An unclear reflection could be barely seen on the thermos.

‘That’s his reflection!’ Constantine exclaimed.

Felicity’s heart started beating faster as she opened another program. 

‘Can you fix it?’ Constantine asked.

‘That’s what I’m trying to do.’ She explained.

With every click of the mouse, the image got clearer and clearer, until it was finally good enough for them to see a man with a black mask on his face, his eyes the only visible feature.

Felicity zoomed a little bit more and saw a small scar just above his left eyebrow.

‘Can you run facial recognition when you only have his eyes?’ Barry asked.

‘I don’t know. I could try.’

She opened another program and quickly wrote a code. Pictures of different men started appearing on the screen, staying for a second, before being replaced by the next one. Suddenly, the computer beeped.

The three of them looked at the picture and Felicity felt a shiver run through her body.

‘Rick Michaels.’ John Constantine read.

Felicity looked at the cold blue eyes of the man on the picture. He had long brown hair, a sharp jawline and defined cheekbones. He looked like he could be a model, _but apparently he decided he’d be a better abductor._ He had a ‘poker face’ on, but Felicity could see the anger and coldness in his eyes. He seemed like a very troubled young man.

’25 years old. Born and raised in Starling.’ Constantine continued.

‘Do you know this guy?’ Barry asked, looking down at Felicity.

‘No…’ she winced. ‘But his name sounds familiar.’

‘That’s because he’s the son of Rick Michaels Senior.’ Constantine spoke. ‘You probably know him.’ When he saw Barry and Felicity’s confused faces, he sighed. ‘Look him up.’

Felicity quickly found him and started reading.

‘Rick Michaels Senior. Died three years ago at the age of 52 in a plane crash. Used to be a lawyer.’

‘A very good one as I can see.’ Barry said as he scrolled through some of his cases.

‘I don’t understand. Why would his son want more?’ Felicity asked. ‘Lawyers are pretty well paid.’

‘It doesn’t make sense.’ Barry agreed. ‘He must’ve had a lot of money.’

‘He did.’ Constantine said. ‘But he lost everything.’

‘How?’ Barry and Felicity asked in unison.

‘He gambled.’ John smiled.

‘Does every rich person gamble?’ Barry asked and looked at Felicity and she just shrugged.

‘So, what, now he doesn’t have money?’ Felicity asked.

‘Thanks to his daddy,’ John continued. ‘He not only doesn’t have money, but he owes quite a lot.’

‘Well, now it makes sense.’ Barry sighed.

‘Now we just need to find Rick Junior.’ Constantine said. ‘Felicity, check all the properties the family owns and where their money went before he lost the rest of it.’

‘Already on it.’ She answered. ‘Oh, wow, they’ve got houses on St. Barts, in Rome and in London…’

‘What’s that?’ Barry pointed at the screen. ’344 million dollars?’

‘He made this investment in 2011 but I don’t see where that money went.’ She furrowed her eyebrows and wrote a couple of codes. ‘Oh! Gotcha!’ she exclaimed.

‘What?’

‘The money was transferred to a Mister James Nelson from New York. He is a real estate agent.’ her eyes widened as she quickly read through his file. ‘According to this, he used to sell underground bunkers illegally.’

‘Ok.’ Constantine nodded. ‘Can you check if he sold something around Starling?’

Felicity clicked a couple of buttons on the keyboard and exclaimed. ‘Yes, he did! He sold a bunker in Starling City in 2011! The same year Rick Senior transferred the money!’

Constantine took a small piece of paper and wrote the address down. She looked up at Barry who was looking at her with a small smile and wide eyes and she felt tears forming in her own.

‘Barry,’ she whispered. ‘That means…’

‘Yes!’ he pulled her up and into a hug. ‘We’ll get them back soon.’

‘Well’ Constantine started. ‘We’re still not sure that this is the place, but um… I have high hopes.’

He gave Felicity a tight smile and she returned it.

The three of them walked out of the room. They got back to the main hall and Constantine stopped a couple of policemen.

‘I want 4 cars to go to this address.’ He gave the men the paper. ‘I will go with Miss Smoak and Mister Allen.’

‘Wait!’ Felicity said. ‘My mom, she’d like to come.’

‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea.’ Constantine winced. ‘It might get dangerous.’

‘Oh, trust me. My mom can be just as dangerous when she’s angry.’ Felicity informed him.

Constantine looked at Barry for support, but he just shrugged.

‘Uh…’ the blond man sighed. ‘Fine. But you better not cause any trouble.’

‘We won’t.’

‘Okay, call your mother.’ Constantine said. ‘We leave in 15 minutes with or without her. It’s an hour drive but,’ he looked at his watch. ‘The city is starting to wake up and we’ll probably catch the rush hour so it might take longer. We can only hope they’ll be fine when we get there.’

And with those words he left Felicity and Barry, and went to gather the team that was going to save Oliver and her father.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

‘How… much… more?’ Damien breathed out, holding onto the railway on the stairs.

Oliver was in the room already and saw the number on the wall.

‘6. C’mon.’ he yelled so that the other man could hear him.

‘I don’t… know if I can…’ Damien exhaled loudly and sat down.

Oliver leaned on the wall.

_What had happened?_

The past 24 hours felt so surreal to him, like it was a dream, like it wasn’t his life.

One minute he had been getting ready for the match of the year, the next he had been abducted and tied up with Damien Darhk.

Out of all the people in the world, he had to be with him…

He sighed and walked to the stairs, before sitting down next to Damien.

‘Oliver, you need to go.’ He spoke quietly. ‘I’m only holding you back.’

‘Bullshit.’

The older man shook his head. ‘I’m not as young as you. If I wasn’t here, you would have climbed those stairs hours ago.’

‘You’re over exaggerating.’ Oliver said. ‘Look, I can’t do this alone.’

‘Yes, you can. Hell, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t even be in this mess.’

‘Are you having a pity party right now?’ Oliver turned towards Damien. ‘Cause that’s usually my job.’

Damien let out a small chuckle.

‘You know…’ Oliver spoke again. ‘Felicity told me we are more alike than we think.’

‘Yeah?’ Damien’s eyes lit up when he heard his daughter’s name. ‘What else did she say about me?’

Oliver smiled at the memory of holding Felicity late at night, talking about dreams, sharing secrets, with their bodies tangled up together.

‘She loves you a lot.’ He told Damien. ‘She didn’t talk about you much because she didn’t want to make things between us awkward. But when she did, her whole face got brighter and happier. You’re her hero.’

Oliver watched as Damien’s eyes watered slightly and a sad smile appeared on his face.

‘I bet she missed you now.’ Oliver added, knowing he needed to push Damien slightly. Maybe talking about his family would motivate him and they’d finally leave this terrible place.

‘She misses you too.’ Damien looked at him.

‘Yeah, somehow I doubt that.’ Oliver looked down. ‘After dinner, I basically pushed her away and um… well… she probably hates me right now.’

‘She doesn’t hate you. She was so angry at me that she hasn’t spoken to me in a month.’

‘Really?’ Oliver asked incredulously.

‘Yeah, really.’

Oliver’s mind and heart were racing. _He still had a chance with her_. It wasn’t over.

This little talk that was supposed to motivate Damien, had managed to do the same for him too. He felt adrenaline and strength fill his blood and spread through his body.

He was going to make it out alive and he was going to save his relationship.

‘You know what, Oliver?’ Damien started. ‘You’re a good kid.’

Oliver chuckled. ‘Took you long enough to see it.’

Damien smiled and shook his head. ‘Don’t make me regret what I just said.’

‘I hope you’re rested because we need to go before they come to us.’ Oliver stood up and held out his hand for Damien.

Damien took it and started climbing the stairs again, holding onto the railway. Oliver was always a couple of steps ahead, checking the area, making sure there was no one around.

After a couple of floors, Oliver walked into the single room with wide eyes.

This one was different than the others. This one was painted dark blue. The only light that was coming was from the three large computers, placed on the desk. 

‘What is it?’ Damien’s voice came from behind.

Oliver walked down the stairs till he reached Damien and helped him walk faster.

‘Oh, wow.’ Damien exclaimed. ‘This is probably their operation room.’

He walked towards the wall to look at the number.

‘We’re on the third floor. Two more.’ He looked at Oliver, who was near the computers, typing something on the keyboard. ‘What are you doing??? Oliver, stop, don’t touch them.’

‘Shh… I’m trying to do something.’ Oliver said.

‘Trying to get caught?’

‘No!’ Oliver exclaimed quietly. ‘I’m trying to send a message to Felicity so that she could find us.’

‘But we don’t even know where we are.’ Damien whined.

‘Have you met your daughter?’ Oliver arched his brow. ‘Tracking a simple message is child’s play for her.’

Damien stood to the side, waiting for Oliver to finish, when suddenly there were footsteps coming from the upper floor.

Oliver’s eyes shot up and met Damien’s worried gaze. Without thinking twice, Oliver jumped over the desk and hid behind the wall so the people that were coming couldn’t see him. Damien stood still and pale, unable to make a single step to hide.

‘HEY!’ Oliver heard a man’s shout.

Judging by the sound of the footsteps, Oliver guessed they were three. He took a deep breath and when he felt the first one walking in the room, he threw a strong punch right in the man’s face, knocking him on the spot.

He came out of his spot and as soon as he saw the other two still in shock, he realized that he had caught them by surprise and now was his time to attack.

Before the second guy could react, Oliver grabbed his head and banged it into his knee. By that time, the third guy had come to his senses and quickly wrapped his arms tightly around Oliver’s neck from behind. For a couple of seconds, Oliver struggled for air, but managed to throw his elbow back, hitting the man right in the ribs. He quickly turned around and punched the guy just as hard as the first one.

Oliver looked up towards the ceiling and took a couple of deep breaths. When he looked down, he saw three unconscious bodies lying on the ground.

‘Well done.’

Oliver heard Damien’s voice and let out a small chuckle.

‘It was nothing.’ He smiled.

‘It’s amazing how they couldn’t even touch you.’ Damien commented.

‘Yeah, well…’ Oliver winced, rubbing his throat gently. ‘I am a quarterback after all… Anyway, I sent a message to Felicity.’

‘I hope she can find us.’ Damien moved closer to Oliver.

‘She can do it. She’s the best.’ Oliver looked towards the computers.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Felicity sat nervously in the car between her mother and Barry.

‘I am so scared, Felicity.’ Donna spoke. ‘And at the same time I’m so excited. I’m going to see my Dami again!’

‘Well, we’re still not sure that’s the plac-’ Felicity started.

‘I have a feeling about it, baby.’ Donna beamed. ‘Look at my hands, Felicity. Felicity, look! Look! Look how they’re shaking. Oh my God… I can’t breathe.’

Felicity groaned and turned her head towards Barry who just gave her a sympathetic smile.

‘When I get my Dami back,’ Donna started. ‘We’re gonna have the wildest and dirtiest sex in our lives!’

‘MOM!’ Felicity yelled.

‘DONNA!’ Barry shouted at the same time as her.

‘MRS. DARHK!’ Constantine winced, sinking deeper into the passenger’s seat.

Just as Donna was about to speak, Felicity’s phone buzzed.

‘Mom, please stop talking.’ She said as she pulled her phone out of her coat’s pocket and opened the message. ‘THEY’RE ALIVE!’ she yelled. ‘IT’S FROM THEM!’

‘WHAT?’ Barry and Donna exclaimed in unison.

‘What did they say?’ Constantine turned around so that he could face her.

‘Just a simple ‘SOS-OQ, DD’. It’s not coming from a cellphone, it’s from a computer!’ she explained.

‘You can see the IP address and track it down.’ Barry finished for her.

‘Can you do that?’ Constantine asked.

‘Felicity Smoak is the best hacker in the world.’ Barry said proudly. ‘Of course, she can do it.’

‘Already did it!’ Felicity said as she typed furiously on her phone. ‘I got the address.’

Constantine handed her the piece of paper where the address of the bunker was written. ‘Is it the same?’

Felicity looked at it and let out a relieved sigh. ‘Yes! Yes, they’re there!’

Donna started shouting from excitement, and Felicity saw Barry’s smile widen, while British-Ass closed his eyes and exhaled in relief, just like she had.

_They were found. They were alive. And they were together._

Felicity looked out the window, as the sun slowly started rising above the horizon.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

‘No, drop it! One’s enough.’ Damien said.

‘No, there’s two of us, we need two at least.’ Oliver argued.

‘What about the third one?’ Damien asked.

‘I’ll take it.’ Oliver said.

He reached down and took the gun from the third guy. He had already given one to Damien, and had taken one for himself, as well. He extended his arm towards Damien handing him the third gun, but the older man just shook his head.

‘Fine.’ Oliver rolled his eyes. ‘More protection for me.’

‘So, two more floors.’ Damien said, as they started climbing up.

‘Yeah.’ Oliver nodded.

‘There are probably people guarding us up there.’

‘Probably.’

Just as they were about to reach the last floor, Damien stopped.

‘Maybe we should wait till the police finds us.’ He said.

‘Stop!’ Oliver turned around to look at him. ‘Stop being so unsure!’

‘Well, I _am_ unsure because there are people with guns up. GUNS!’

‘We have guns too.’

‘Yeah, but unlike us, they won’t hesitate to use them!’ Damien answered back.

‘You’re damn right about that!’

Oliver and Damien’s heads shot up to look at the person who’d just spoken, and found themselves facing seven guns, pointed at them. Oliver recognized the same man with the scar and long hair, but his eyes were different now. They were icy and cold, but Oliver could see the angry fire in them.

‘Walk.’ He said with a low and dangerous voice.

Oliver and Damien exchanged a look, unable to move, scared of what was about to happen.

‘I. Said. WALK!’ the man yelled.

 Two other men, came behind Oliver and Damien and pushed them up towards the last floor. They walked into a room and Oliver’s jaw dropped as he entered. There were wide windows and the first rays of sunlight were peeking through them.

‘Since you made your way to up here, I’m not gonna send you down right back.’ Their leader spoke. ‘But you will definitely pay for your attempt to get out.’

As soon as the words left his mouth, he punched Damien in the face. Two other men grabbed him by the elbows, while the first guy was getting ready to hit him again.

‘NO!’ Oliver shouted and struggled to get out of the grip of the two guys holding him.

‘Don’t worry, Queen,’ the _leader_ spoke. ‘We’ll get to you too.’

He grinned at Oliver, and threw a punch in Damien’s stomach, making him hiss in pain.

Just like that, Oliver kicked one of his guards in the knee. The guy fell to the ground, and Oliver twisted his arm around the other man’s neck, catching him by surprise. With his free hand, he reached down and took the guy’s gun, before pointing it to his head. 

‘Let him go!’ he told the other men. ‘Or I’ll shoot your friend.’

Everyone looked at him with wide eyes, full of surprise. The ‘leader’ suddenly started clapping slowly.

‘I must’ve underestimated you, Queen.’ He said. ‘Well done.’

‘I swear to God, I’ll fucking shoot him if you don’t let us go!’ Oliver said through gritted teeth.

The man narrowed his eyes at him, and then an ugly and sinister smile appeared on his face.

‘Okay.’ He said.

Oliver furrowed his eyebrows. _That was easy_.

‘Let my man go, and you’re free.’ The guy spoke again.

Oliver didn’t believe him. _Why go through all the trouble of abducting them, and then release them? What had made him change his mind?_ Oliver couldn’t trust him.

 _But_ …

He looked towards Damien’s direction and winced. His lip was bleeding and he was breathing hard. Not only he’d just climbed 20 floors, but he had been physically tortured. He wasn’t a young man, and this condition could be very dangerous for him. He needed medical help and he needed it now.

Slowly and uncertainly, he dropped his hands from the guy’s neck, but decided to keep the gun. Just in case.

The two guys that held Damien let go of him and he was about to fall down, but Oliver was quicker and caught him before he hit the ground.

‘You okay?’ Oliver asked quietly.

‘I’ll be fine.’ Damien answered.

Oliver wrapped his arm around Damien’s waist, and helped him get up on his feet. He looked at the men around them, and when he saw them standing to the side, not trying to stop them, he turned his back started walking to the only door in the room, assuming it would lead them outdoors.

Just as he reached it, the caught a reflection on the door knob. The guy with the long hair and scar was pointing his gun towards Damien.

‘Idiots.’ He laughed.

‘LOOK OUT!’ Oliver shouted and instinctively pushed Damien aside.

He felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, as he fell on the ground right next to Damien.

_He got shot._

He wrapped his right hand over the place that hurt, and when his hand made contact with his shoulder, he winced from the increasing ache.

‘Fuck…’ he whispered.

‘Oliver!’ Damien shouted.

Oliver looked at his right hand and realized it was covered in blood.

He heard steps approaching him and looked up. He saw the same guy that had shot him, holding the gun towards his head with a wicked smile on his face.

Oliver closed his eyes in acceptance. He was going to die.

He saw his life flash before his eyes. He remembered everything that had ever happened to him- the good and the bad things.

He remembered the first times he’d met his friends, he remembered getting accepted to college and then signing to The Arrows.  

He remembered his dad, his mom, his sister… He remembered Felicity.

He had so many regrets, so many things to say.

He wanted to apologize to his family and to Felicity for hurting them. He wanted to hug them. He wanted to tell them how much he loved them.

But he would never get the chance to do that. Because he was going to die.

He wasn’t ready, but he didn’t have a choice.

Tears burned his eyes, trying to escape, but Oliver decided that he wasn’t going to die crying.

So he opened his eyes and looked directly into his abductor’s cold ones.

Just as Oliver was taking one deep breath, _his last one_ , the doors slammed open.

‘POLICE!’

Hearing that single and simple word, made Oliver’s knees weak, as emotions overtook him.

From then on, everything was happening too fast around him. There was a short shooting, then people were moving around and shouting things. He stood on the ground, the only thing that was still, was Damien by his side.

‘Thank you.’ The older man said softly. ‘For saving my life.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Oliver smiled slightly at him.

‘You took a bullet for me.’ Damien remarked.

Just as Oliver was about to answer, he was interrupted.

‘Mr. Queen, are you alright?’ a voice with an accent asked.

Oliver looked up and saw a blond man approaching him and Damien.

‘I…’ Oliver started speaking. ‘My shoulder hurts.’

‘He was shot.’ Damien added.

‘We have called an ambulance, they should be here in less than half an hour.’ The British man spoke. ‘But traffic is pretty bad at this time, so it might take longer. Can you sit up?’

Oliver and Damien slowly got up on their feet, leaning on each other, trusting each other for support.

‘My name is John Constantine.’ The man said. ‘I have questions for you, but first… there are some people who have been dying to see you.’

‘Donna!’ Damien exclaimed and ran out of the room.

Oliver stood still for a second, before following him out, a bit slower.

The second he went out, he closed his eyes as the sun was now completely up and shining brightly. Even though there was sunshine, it was raining softly, making the burn in his wound decrease slightly. The air was fresh, and he closed his eyes to breathe it in, to feel the raindrops on his skin.

When he opened his eyes he looked ahead, and in the distance, he saw the warm and familiar blue eyes he’d been desperate to see for the past month.

 _Felicity_.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Felicity’s heart was beating fast as she was leaning on the police car, while her mother was pacing in front of her.

Then the door flew open and Felicity’s eyes filled with tears as she saw her father come out. He was limping slightly and he was bleeding, but he had the biggest smile on his face.

‘DAMI!’ her mother yelled and started running towards him.

‘DONNA!’ he yelled back.

Felicity’s knees were weak but she managed to run to him as well.

She and her mother ran directly into her father’s arms and held him tight. Felicity could hear her mother’s sobs and felt her own cheeks getting wet from her own tears.

She looked up to meet her father’s teary eyes, before her pulled her in for a forehead kiss.

‘Felicity,’ he started. ‘I am so sorry, sweetie.’

‘Dad!’ she shook her head. ‘We’re good. You don’t have to apologize… I am so happy you’re okay.’

‘Me too.’ He smiled at her and then let go of her to hug Donna tighter. ‘Felicity, there’s someone else who needs to get some of your attention too.’

She looked towards the door and saw Oliver.

Her lower lip started trembling, when their eyes met. She felt emotions rush through her body, making her skin burn and not even the rain was helping to cool her down. Her breath hitched, and judging by his expression his had too.

They took a couple of slow steps towards each other, until they were 5 feet away from each other.

Felicity saw that his shoulder was bleeding and her heart clenched.

‘You’re shot.’ She whispered as a couple of tears rolled down her cheek.

‘It’s nothing.’ Oliver said softly.

She met his eyes again and saw how warm and calm they were. He had this expression on his face that she knew was only for her. He never looked at anyone the way he looked at her.

They were still keeping their distance, neither taking a step forward. The rain was starting to get stronger, even though the sun was shining brightly.

Blue was staring into blue.

He was hers. And she was his.

‘Felicity…’ he whispered.

And just like that, they ran into each other’s arms, meeting halfway. She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, as he held her tightly.

‘I’m so glad you’re alive and okay, Oliver.’ She spoke, letting the tears fall.

‘Me too.’ He whispered into her hair.

After holding each other for a few more moments, she pulled away and looked at his face. He had a small and tired smile on his face, and he was looking at her like she was his everything. Her gaze fell on his lips. He caught that, and gently put his hand on her jaw, as he lowered himself.

Suddenly, she pulled away, remembering her father. She saw Oliver’s confused look.

‘My dad…’ she explained.

Oliver chuckled and looked behind her. She turned her head around and saw her father nod slightly. She looked up at Oliver again and saw him smiling at her father.

Oliver and her dad were exchanging nods and smiles???? _What?_

‘It’s okay, Felicity.’ His gaze dropped to hers. ‘He owes me.’

A grin spread on her face, right before his mouth was on hers. She let out a relieved moan from the sensation of kissing him again. The familiar feeling of his lips moving slowly against hers, made her heart beat faster in her chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. He followed her move, enveloping her in a tight embrace.

When he pulled away for them to catch their breaths, she saw a smile forming on his lips and her heart melted.

He opened his eyes, and she saw how blue and clear and intense they were. He exhaled loudly and shook his head slightly.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

He looked at her again and held her gaze for a second before he spoke.

‘I love you.’

Felicity bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. She felt like she was going to burst of happiness.

He placed a kiss on her forehead and whispered again. ‘I love you so much.’

She let out a small sob and looked up at him. ‘I love you, too.’ 

It was his turn to smile brightly, before he pulled her in for a hug.

‘I’m so sorry.’ He spoke. ‘I was angry and hurt, and-’

‘It’s okay.’ She interrupted him. ‘I know.’

He looked down at her again. ‘So, we’re cool?’

‘We’re cool.’ She laughed.

He kissed her one more time, and she took his hand in hers.

‘C’mon.’ she said. ‘We need to clean your wound.’

‘Oh, yeah.’ Oliver agreed as they slowly walked to the cars, ignoring the chaos around them. Calls were being made and policemen were shouting at each other from all directions but the two of them just couldn’t be bothered. ‘Some Constantine guy told me they called an ambulance.’

‘Ugh.’ Felicity grimaced. ‘So you’ve met him?’

‘Yeah, why?’ Oliver furrowed his eyebrows.

‘He was a pain in the ass.’ She rolled her eyes.

‘Looked like a nice lad.’ Oliver shrugged.

‘Yeah, try spending 12 whole hours with him and his annoying remarks.’ She chuckled.

They reached the others. Donna and Barry hugged Oliver saying how glad they were that he’s okay. The five of them made small talk, before Felicity pulled Oliver inside one of the cars.

‘Your family is coming any moment.’ she smiled as she leaned on his shoulder. _The one that wasn’t shot._

‘Great.’ He drew small circles on her bare arm. ‘I missed them.’

‘They were worried.’ She said and chuckled. ‘Tommy even promised he’d let you win every poker game from now on, if you came back alive.’

Oliver laughed loudly. ‘I always win anyway… Well, there was this one time you won.’

She looked up at him and saw the amusement on his face.

_Maybe it was time to tell him the truth._

‘Yeah, about that…’ she gulped. ‘You know I used to live in Vegas, right?’

‘Mhm, so?’

‘Well…’ she smiled innocently at him. ‘I can count cards.’

It took him a couple of moments to realize what she meant, and when he did, his smile dropped and was replaced by a frown.

‘WHAT?!’ he exclaimed and pulled away from her. ‘So you cheated?’

‘Not really.’ She tilted her head. ‘Only a little bit in the beginning.’

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and sank into the leather on the car.

‘Oh, c’mon…’ Felicity chuckled and snuggled into him. He still didn’t wrap his hands around her, but she saw his struggle to not smile. ‘Next time we play I won’t cheat!’

He looked down and narrowed his eyes. ‘You promise?’

‘I promise.’ She grinned and placed a small kiss on his lips.

‘Then get ready to lose.’ He teased her and _finally_ wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

‘We’ll see about that.’ She answered. ‘I am good at poker even if I don’t cheat.’

‘You know, even if you win, I’d still think you cheated.’

‘Oliveeerr!’ She whined.

‘Well, that’s what you get for cheating.’ He chuckled.

‘You’re gonna hawk me about this forever, aren’t you?’ she asked him with a huge grin on her face.

Instead of answering, Oliver leaned down to kiss her.

When he pulled away, he nodded with a smile, just as wide as hers. ‘I’m a hawker.’

Felicity shook her head and leaned on his shoulder.

_She didn’t mind being hawked by him at all._

 

~THE END.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadaa! ^_^ Hope you enjoyed it!Please, drop me a comment saying what thought!  
> Thank you for your support and understanding.  
> I'll be back soon with another story!  
> xoxo

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you liked it! Please let me know by dropping me a comment! If you enjoyed it, you could leave a kudo ^_^  
> See you next week, fellas <3  
> Come say Hi on tumblr: http://xoxo-wild-one.tumblr.com or twitter: @Berry_Sabit. I love talking to you, guys! <3


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